“Jed, try harder.” Leekasha pleaded.
Suddenly, the zombie coming towards Leekasha and Jed stopped dead in it’s tracks. It turned around, and headed back towards it’s cell. The zombie chasing the others around the table did the same thing. Leekasha released the one she had under control, and it walked towards it’s cell. Even the remaining prison guards dropped their weapons, walked into cells, and closed the doors locking themselves in. Only the revived good zombies remained in the common area.
“What the hell!” said Leekasha.
Standing in the center of the room up on one of the tables, was Christa.
“Isn’t that your friend?” Jed asked.
“Oh yea.” Leekasha replied smiling from ear to ear. “Best damn friend on the entire planet.”
Enough Is Enough
“Damn girl, you look pretty good for someone just back from death’s door,” Leekasha called out, walking towards Christa.
“Hang onto that thought for just one second.” Christa answered motioning to the guards office.
In all the excitement, Leekasha had momentarily lost track of the situation. There were still guards in the block about to make their lives very difficult. Christa, Leekasha and Jed worked together to mentally suggest to the guards to drop their weapons, combat gear, and radios. Then, they had them lock themselves into two of the remaining opened cells.
Christa jumped down of the table into the arms of Leekasha.
“I didn’t know if I was ever going to see you again.” Leekasha said.
“Lucky for me it appears that you are.” Christa answered.
“Lucky for both of us actually. I didn’t know what was going to happen to our grand plans without you by my side. What the heck happened to you?”
“I’m not entirely sure. Last thing I remembered, was us sneaking into this cell block and you trying to revive a zombie. That one.” She said motioning towards Jed.
“Hi, I’m Jed,” He said offering his hand to Christa and smiling.
“Hello.” Christa said cautiously shaking his hand.
“Thank you so much for getting me out from under that drug. I have no idea how I’m ever going to repay you both.”
“You could start by not going on a psychotic murdering rampage in your quest for world domination.” Christa answered.
Jed looked confusedly to Leekasha. She waved off the comment and said, “Christa don’t worry he’s fine. He’s no Andreas.”
“Who’s Andreas?” Jed asked.
“Nobody you need to worry about Jed. Christa’s just being a little paranoid. Let’s just say she had a bad relationship with the last zombie guy she revived. Christa I’m so sorry we left you behind.”
“You left me behind? I don’t even remember that.”
“Yea, there was too many of them … guards I mean. Just after I revived Jed here, they stormed in. We killed a guard … actually Jed did.”
Christa gave Jed a suspicious look.
“No Christa, it wasn’t like that. If he hadn’t then I’d be dead. He did it to save me. He’s on our side. We were coming back for you, but by the time we got back you were already gone. Did they take you somewhere?”
“I woke up in the infirmary. I have no idea how I got there. They had me restrained to the bed, but weren’t treating me or anything. I don’t think they realized who I was. The warden came by, and had a lot of questions about how a couple of girls broke into one of the most secured prisons in the country. His prison.”
“What did you tell him?”
“Not a single thing. Like I said, they didn’t even know who I was. They seemed more worried about you and Jed here. They didn’t come right out and say it at first, but they were pretty concerned that you had a zombie running around with you. They didn’t understand how that could happen. After that, I just took control of them and they told me everything. They’ve been locking up all kinds of zombies here they had no other place for. Apparently, they’ve been doing that in prisons all over the country for years. Usually, they make ideal prisoners. They do all the jobs regular prisoners do, but without any of the discipline problems.”
“What happened to you though? You just passed out when I had my back turned, and your were bleeding from your ear. You scared the hell out of me. I thought you were dead at one point.”
“Well, apparently they also do some experimentation with the zombie populations in prison. They’d been pumping some new type of Pacize through the air, and it really messed with my system. It happens to about ten percent of the population. Most come out of it, but a small number actually die. I was lucky, and came out of it. Just to be on the safe side, I made them turn off the system. Actually, to be more precise, I had one of the staff sabotage the distribution machine. They won’t be pumping anything special into our air for quite a while.”
Leekasha shook her head. “What the hell is it with these people, that they think they can just treat us like that? We’re not here for them to poke like lab rats. They can’t just lock us up as prisoners for no reason. Most of the zombies locked up in here probably never did anything wrong to anyone. Their bodies just changed … evolved. Evolved for the better. It’s time we showed them what we’re really capable of.”
“I do think it’s time to do what we came here for.” Christa said.
“What exactly is it you girls have in mind?” Jed asked.
“Nothing too sinister.” Leekasha smiled. “Just a little global domination.”
“First things first sister.” Christa added. “We need to secure this prison block. The warden’s not going to be too happy when he wakes up in restraints in the infirmary along with the rest of the medical staff. We’ll be getting more visitors soon.”
Secure The Block
“They’ll will indeed be back.” Jed said.
“I don’t think they’ve actually left.” Christa answered. “I’m sure they know what’s going on in here and they’re already planning their next steps. They may not know who or what we are, but that’ll change soon. We’re about to lose what little advantage of surprise we had.”
“So, what do we do?” Leekasha asked.
Christa looked around the block rubbing her hands together. “Hell if I know. This is the first time I’ve ever broken into a prison.”
The guards they’d locked in cells starting getting noisy. “Hey freaks,” one of them called. “The warden’s coming for you. Your not going to get away with this. This is our prison. We run the place. Your all dead. Everyone of you.”
“He’s right.” Christa said. “We need to take charge. At least of this piece. We can’t let them know what’s going on here. We need to know what they’re up to. Jed, get us each one of those radios that the guards dropped. Figure out how they work. We need to be listening to see if we can hear them taking, before they come. Whatever you do, don’t answer them if they try talking with you. Let me know first, and we’ll decide how to respond. We don’t want to be giving them any more information.”
“Got it.” Jed said, as he ran across the cell block to retrieve the radios.
“Leekasha get the riot gear, the guards had and put it on this bunch of good revived zombies. We’re going to need them later, and they’re sitting ducks right now. They need all the protection they can get. I’m going to see if I can blind them by taking out the security cameras.”
Leekasha looked to the half dozen revived zombies, that had survived the anarchy. They were hovering around, like lost puppies at the dinner table looking for scraps. “Alright you bunch, come here.” Leekasha waved them towards her. “It’s alright, don’t be shy. I’m sure your all a bit disoriented at the moment, but trust me that’ll go away.” There were four men and two women in the group. “I sure hope you have a lot more fight in you then I see on your faces right now. Unfortunately, you’ve been woken up into a shit storm. As your memories start to come back you’ll understand. Right now, for your own protection, I need you to get some of that protective gear over there and put
it on. Ignore the jerks dressed as guards in the cells over there. They’re just a little pissed the tables are turning on them.”
Ten minutes later, they’d all reassembled in the center of the room.
“How are you coping with the screams in your head Leekasha?” Christa asked.
“It’s not so bad. I’m getting better at it, but Jed’s starting to hear them now. He’s gonna struggle with it to.” Leekasha answered.
“It’s not that bad. It comes and goes.” Jed added. “What about the rest of us? All the newly revived will start hearing the others about the same time.”
“We need to get ahead of this.” Christa said. “We need to revive everyone in here. Jed, if you can hear their screams, you should be able to revive them. We need to start shoring up defenses, so we don’t have guards charging in here while we’re reviving everyone.”
“We’ll never do it in time.” Leekasha complained. “There’s hundreds of prisoners in here, and some are bound to be violent ones.”
“I’m counting on that.” Christa answered. “We need the violent ones.”
“Are you crazy?” Jed asked. “Did you see what they did the last time?”
“Yes, of course, I was here. Remember? They’re our pawns, our soldiers. There is two ways into this block. Through the guards office or the door at the opposite end, that leads into the yard. There’s a small enclosed area just outside the door before the yard. It’s a small room big enough for maybe a dozen zombies to be crammed into From that room, a narrow hall just big enough for one person to walk through leads to the outside. It’s a natural choke point. Anyone coming after us, will have to go through either that narrow hallway or the guards office. We’re gonna load up those areas with the violent zombies. They’ll be our first line of defense.”
Jed and Leekasha nodded their heads in reluctant agreement.
“I know.” Christa said. “It’s barbaric. Trust me I don’t like it any better than you guys, but we don’t have a lot of choices here. We’ve got to work with what we have. Right now, I need both of you to start reviving zombies. Leave the good ones in their cells for the moment, and release the violent ones. Once their revived, I can control them and move them to the appropriate area. I killed all the cameras, so they won’t know what we’re up to.”
Christa turned to the newly revived good zombies. “If any of you start to hear screams in your head, don’t panic. You can learn to control it. It’s just your brothers and sisters in the cells around you. We’re going to get them out. We’re going to free them all.”
Captured
The windows high up on the wall shattered, as tear gas cans came flying though and hit the floor spinning. The gas from the canisters blended in with the gas from the vents, and visibility disappeared. Zombies were bumping into each other, into the furniture and into the walls. Panic ensued, and those that could call for help did. Not that there was any coming. At least not for them. All their pleas for help did nothing to mask the sounds of military boots.
Leekasha called for Christa, and Christa called back. They’d been separated by the panicked scurrying of others fleeing for safety. Christa bumped into a table and backed up to move around the table, only to trip over a chair and fall sprawled out face first. Christa called again, and Leekasha reached her crawling on all fours under the table. Leekasha grabbed Christa’s hand, and pulled her back under the table.
Nose to nose Leekasha said, “This is the safest place to be right now.”
“My eyes hurt so much.” Christa said, wiping away the tears. “I can barely see you and your right there.”
“Don’t try. Cover your eyes with your shirt to protect them.”
“Were did Jed go?”
“I’m not sure. Last I saw, he was heading back towards the guard office. We should try and go that way too. The other door, will just lead us out into the open yard. If we go through the guard office, we can get to the other cell block. Maybe it’s clearer in there, and we can regroup.”
“Hold my hand and stay low. I don’t want to get separated again.”
Leekasha and Christa made their way towards the outer wall, and work their way down it towards the guard office. Intense beams of light shone through the smoke filled room, searching for movement. Two revived zombies were hit by the lights and a half dozen prison guards were on them, beating them down with metal batons. The guards restrained, and dragged them away. Christa and Leekasha could hear their cries, but couldn’t seen them. They continued trying to make their way to the guard office.
“I can see the door, just ahead.” Leekasha said. “It looks clearer through the windows.”
“Can you see guards?” Christa asked. “Can we get through?”
“There are a couple of guards and someone else. It’s hard to make out through the smoke.”
Christa leaned past Leekasha and squinted. “It’s Jed. I think he’s got control of both guards. He’s got a mask and goggles from the guard.”
“Jed!” Leekasha called out over the chaos. “We’re here. Get the other mask for us. We’ll make our way to you.”
Jed looked momentarily in their direction, then bolted for the other door towards the empty cell block. He left the two prison guards behind in the office. The one without the mask reached quickly to cover his eyes for protection.
“Where he’s going?” Christa asked. “Jed! Wait! We’re right here. Wait for us.”
Both guards in the office were still coming too, as Leekasha focused her mind on them. The one guard still had his mask. What she didn’t see though, was the guards with the fire hose behind them. They opened it full blast and sent both Christa and Leekasha sprawling across the floor. They tried to stand and regain their footing. The hose hit them again, this time slamming them into the near wall. Leekasha was stunned from the force, but Christa slammed her head into the wall and fell unconscious. Before Leekasha could turn to check her friend, guards slapped restraints on both of them, and dragged them off to a prison cell.
***
Jed heard the cries from the two girls as he made his way through the guard office. He never slowed, as he moved into the empty cell block, and immediately made his way to the upper level. Part way down the block, the smoked cleared, and he discarded the gas mask into one of the prison cells. He could see more guards running along the lower level towards the office. He ducked into empty cells, until they passed. Eventually, he made his way to the end of the block, and into the prison yard. There were no guards to be seen. They must all be storming the prison block. I wouldn’t want to be in there now. Jed ducked into the first building with an open door he could find.
Hogans Heroes
The mass confusion worked well for Leekasha and Christa, as the guards took back the prison block and gradually restored order. Days later, the prisoner Jed was still missing, so for the time being the girls were locked up in his cell. The guards had orders to move them to separate cells away from the rest of the population. Whenever it came time to execute those orders, the guards would suddenly change their minds, leave the girls alone, then lie to their superiors about having made the move.
The same thing happened when medical staff were sent to investigate revived zombies. The warden had some real concerns regarding the behavior of a growing population of the zombie inmates that seemed to be acting strangely. The medical reports all came back, that there was nothing unusual about the behavior of the inmates, and no further investigation was required.
The warden eventually took matters into his own hands. Regardless of what the medical staff and prison guards were telling him, he could clearly see via the repaired security cameras that the inmates were behaving differently. They were ignoring direct orders from guards, leaving lights on long past curfew, and having lengthy conversations with one another. They were acting completely out of behavior for zombie inmates under control of the Pacize drug.
The Warden decided it was time to visit the prison block personally. The visit was quick. He only vis
ited Jed’s old cell containing Christa and Leekasha. Upon returning to his office, he wrote orders countermanding his previous orders to investigate the cell block, and promptly forgot about the problems with the zombie inmates. A few days later, the same notion that something was wrong in the zombie cell crept back into his head, and the whole cycle repeated itself.
***
“I’m not sure how much longer we can keep this up Leekasha. Sooner or later, something has got to give and someone higher up than the Warden is going to get involved.” Christa said.
“We won’t have to go for much longer. With the latest batch of revived zombies helping, it should only be another day or two at the most. One more day to have everyone revived, and an extra day just to let the latest get their bearings. This has worked out far better than I would have thought. I don’t know why were so busy fighting the authority here. We should have just blended in from the beginning. I’m thinking, that’s going to be my new strategy from here on. Just blend in, and kill them with kindness.”
Christa smiled. “I suppose having another eight hundred or so revived zombies on our side doesn’t hurt much either. I can’t believe we actually managed to pull this off. Do you think, anyone outside of the prison will figure out what we’re doing?” Christa thought for a second. “What exactly are we doing?”
“We’re taking our rightful place, is what we’re doing. Have you noticed who’s working for who now? The guards do anything we want. We can do anything we want. They’ll bring us anything we want. What more could we ask for?”
“Maybe, you’ve forgotten, but we are in a prison. Do you really want to live in a prison?”
Rising: Parables From The Apocalypse - Dystopian Fiction Page 8