Season of Rot

by Eric S. Brown

  Outside the fence, three new infected knelt, gnawing on the charred remains of their less fortunate brethren.

  #

  Nathanial Richards sat alone in the control room. He looked at his watch; two hours until the next message from the Freedom was due. It was far more than enough time for what he had in mind. His fingers danced over the keys of his computer and the complex was his.

  He was not a man given to worry. Born to the CEO of one of America’s leading pharmaceutical corporations and to a mother whose life revolved around him due to the constant absence of his father, he considered himself blessed. Nathanial never wanted for anything. Even in college, when the police had raided his dorm room and found his stash of narcotics, his father had swept in and made it all go away. What was a petty possession charge to a man who carried senators, bought and paid for, in his pocket? His parents had always been there to save him, and he had never doubted that they would come. But they were gone now. No more bailouts. Political power and money meant nothing these days.

  Outside of his family, the only true friends Nathanial had ever known were computers. From the time he could type, machines were a part of his life. They gave him his own power and control, but the wave had taken even them from him. Oh sure, there were computers all over Def Con, but the web and cyberspace no longer existed. He’d lost everything. Nathanial was alone, and death was coming for him. The transmission from the Freedom II had fired his hopes that the old world would return, but now he knew deep in his heart that the people on the other end of the transmission were evil incarnate, and he wasn’t going to let them take the last thing he had left: his soul.

  Weeks ago, he had been forced to disable the base’s self-destruct system to save himself and everyone trapped with him. The codes had been easy to break for someone like him, and they were even easier to manipulate now. Def Con itself would be his shield when the darkness came, a shield of fire and retribution.

  His soul would remain his own.

  #

  Wade finished covering the last mine as yet another one of the infected emerged from the trees. He didn’t waste the time or the ammo to dispose of it. Instead he broke into a run for the gates. As he passed through, Troy and Jeremy slammed them shut behind him. The psycho threw itself against the barbed wire, clawing at the fence and foaming pink at the mouth.

  “That does it.” Wade collapsed to the earth, out of breath. “We’re as ready as we’re going to be.”

  They had spent the last few hours littering the area outside of the fence with mines and barricading the doors of the garage. “As long as those things out there don’t trip all the mines before our company shows, we should at least have a chance,” Geoff said. He had drunk cup after cup of black coffee, trying to sober up while supervising the others.

  “Don’t worry,” Troy said, patting his .30-.06, which was equipped with a sniper scope. “Me and my friend here won’t let them.”

  “Guess all we can do is wait,” Jeremy said. “It’s almost time for the Freedom II to make contact again.”

  “You go on and be there with the rest of them when it happens,” Geoff urged as Troy climbed to his position atop the garage. “Us three pretty much got things covered up here.”

  Jeremy nodded. He took one last glance at their work and then headed for the shed and the outer seal leading into the complex.

  19

  Toni was the first to join Nathanial in the control room. He looked haggard, as if he’d never left his station since the Freedom’s first transmission. Jeremy and Sheena came in minutes later. No one asked where Ian was and Jeremy was thankful for it. He hadn’t decided what to do about the former CIA agent’s condition and didn’t see any reason at this point to add the worry to the rest of their collective woes. “Everything ready?” he asked.

  “We’re set up to trace them the second they make contact,” Nathanial assured him. They all watched the communications console as the figures on the time display flashed and changed to the appointed hour.

  “Come in, Def Con. This is Freedom II. Do you copy us? Over.”

  “Go!” Jeremy shouted at Nathanial, and the computer engineer began the trace.

  Toni hesitantly opened a response channel. “This is Def Con. We copy you, Freedom II.”

  Seconds ticked by in silence. No reply. Nathanial indicated that he’d managed to get a fix on the origins of the transmission. All the color had bled from his face. “It’s coming from a point just two miles south of here and closing slowly… Sweet Jesus. They really are coming for us.”

  #

  Troy saw the convoy first from his spot atop the garage. A line of pickups, four-wheel drives and jeeps bounced up the winding gravel road, growing ever closer. Troy counted thirteen vehicles in all, and numerous men and women on foot jogged along at their sides. The thing that bothered him, though, was the infected’s lack of interest in the convoy. He knew for a fact that there were packs of the creatures still out there in the woods, but for whatever reason they were not attacking. It could only mean one of two things: either these people knew a way to control or ward off the creatures, or they themselves were so poisoned by the radiation in the atmosphere that the infected didn’t recognize them as human.

  Using hand signs, Troy gestured what he saw to Geoff and Wade, who were concealed in the remaining bushes just inside the fence. Then he said a prayer for them all and checked the chamber of his rifle to make sure it was ready.

  #

  “Come in, Freedom II. Come in,” Toni repeated over the open frequency.

  “Give it up,” Nathanial suggested. “They got what they wanted: a definitive fix on our exact position. They’re done talking now.”

  Toni’s shoulders sagged with defeat. Her fears were confirmed, and in that moment she knew she was the one who had called this new terror upon them. She turned to look for Jeremy, but he was already gone from the control room.

  #

  It was one of the joggers rather than one of the vehicles who stumbled onto the most outlaying mine. The explosion and the rain of pulpy, charred flesh brought the convoy to a halt. People began to pour out of the vehicles and leave them behind.

  Troy swore under his breath. Whoever was leading the mob knew what they were doing. The working trucks were too valuable to lose, and by approaching the base on foot it would cut down the damage the mines could inflict on the transports.

  The .30-.06 propped against Troy’s shoulder had a pretty good range. He sighted one of the joggers as the moving mass of attackers began to pick up the pace. Troy put a round through his target’s throat just as the mob reached the main section of the minefield. Explosion after explosion tossed dirt and body parts into the air, but the people just kept coming, without even pausing to tend to their wounded.

  In the bushes, Wade took a deep breath and made his peace with God. The fastest of the joggers had already reached the fence. He saw one of them toss something at the barbed wire, and then his world went white.

  Troy watched in horror as his friend was blown apart, along with a large section of the fence. The attackers flowed through like ants. He fired off a last shot with the rifle, then tossed the weapon aside and tried to scurry down from the garage roof.

  Geoff remained hidden the whole time. He waited in the bushes as the attackers ran past on both sides. They moved like men but they weren’t really human anymore. Their battle cries were the snarls of maddened dogs, and their skin was tinted yellow with sickness. He caught a glimpse of one’s eyes. There were no whites left, just a sickening bloodshot mass.

  Geoff switched his AK-47 to full auto and stood up, spraying the backs of the fifteen or so that had made it by him. They crumpled like weeds before a scythe.

  A rifle cracked and a bullet ripped through the back of Geoff’s shoulder. He whirled around and charged at the mob head-on, his rifle blazing and spitting empty shell casings. He made it a few steps before his bullet-ridden corpse toppled to the ground, rolling from its momentum.


  Troy, down from the roof, saw the base’s opening—Jeremy was trying to come out. Troy shoved him back down. “Lock it!” he yelled.

  “But Geoff…”

  “He’s dead. Wade too.” Troy climbed down and pushed Jeremy aside. He typed in the code, and something thumped hard against the hatch. A gun chattered and bullets pinged off the metal.

  Both Jeremy and Troy ducked instinctively. “Shit!” Troy grabbed Jeremy and tugged him deeper into the base. “If they’ve got the gear with them to cut through between the outer seal and the inner lock… we’ve got an hour, maybe two, tops.”

  “How many are up there?” Jeremy asked. The look on Troy’s face told him all he needed to know.

  #

  Deep in the bowels of Def Con, Ian threw down the book he was reading and screamed. Spit flew from his mouth as his head shook uncontrollably. He leapt up from his chair and ran at the armory door, but his shoe snagged a nearly invisible tripwire he’d set in place the day before; the armory’s lights turned red as its huge door slammed shut in front of him. Ian pounded his fists against it until the bones of his hands were shattered, and then he started to use his head.

  #

  Troy and Jeremy burst into the control room, nearly scaring Toni to death. “What the hell?” Nathanial bellowed.

  “They’re cutting through the outer seal,” Jeremy said, panting for breath. “The others are dead.”

  “Nat, are any of the exterior cameras still working?” Troy asked as he closed on the engineer.

  “A few… not the one in the shed.”

  “Bring ‘em online. I have a bad feeling our friends up there aren’t just going to be sitting on their asses in the time it takes them to cut their way in here.”

  “Okay, I’ve got two cameras reporting operational. Both of them are a good bit away from the gates though.”

  “Put the closest onscreen.”

  The huge wall display flashed to life, showing a small group of attackers, who appeared to be reloading their weapons. In the background, other attackers stood watching something beyond the camera’s field of vision.

  “Can you pan around and see what those others are so interested in?” Troy asked.

  “I can try.” Nathanial worked at his keyboard, and the image flickered and bounced as the camera slowly turned. Three of the attackers stood outside the fence amidst a pack of infected. The creatures cowered around them like pets.

  “I don’t believe it,” Troy said, rubbing his forehead. “Damn, those fuckers are smart.”

  Nathanial furrowed his brow. “Huh? I don’t get it.”

  “They’re rounding up the infected in the woods. When they cut through the seal, they’re not just going to rush in here. There’s no sense in them risking their lives. They’ll let the mindless ones come in first, hoping they’ll either overrun us or at least weaken our defenses.”

  “Aren’t they all infected?” Toni asked.

  Nathanial answered before Troy had a chance to. “Yes, but they’re not the same. These new ones aren’t at all like the ones we’ve had to deal with in the past. They’re much more advanced, like they’re evolving back into something much closer to what we are, just not as nice. And certainly not above using their lesser brethren as weapons or cannon fodder, or whatever you want to call it.”

  “Somebody should get Ian. We’re going to need all the help we can get,” Sheena suggested.

  “No,” Jeremy replied, “Ian’s fine where he’s at.”

  “We should at least warn him,” Toni added.

  “Ian’s fine.” Jeremy moved to take hold of Toni. “Trust me, he’s where he wants to be.”

  “Jeremy.” Troy motioned him over to a table in the control room. Troy ripped a map off the wall and spread it across the tabletop. “You don’t have to die here. None of us do. There’s a back way out.”

  “That’s impossible!” Sheena snapped. “If there was another entrance I would know about it.”

  Troy ignored her and pointed to a spot on the map. “There’s a tunnel inside the ventilation system here. Wade found it a few days ago. It’s sealed up with an iron grate, but I think you can get through it. It opens into the back of the garage.”

  “The garage? Those things are all over the place up there,” Nathanial pointed out.

  “They’re spread out pretty good though, and most of them will probably follow the normal infected in here once they get through the inner door. If you wait until they get into the base, by the time you get up there you’ll at least have a chance.”

  “What’s with all the you stuff?”

  “Jeremy, someone has to stay here to slow them down and make them work for every inch of the base they take. That’s me. I’m the only real soldier left.”

  “Troy—” Jeremy started, but Nathanial interrupted him.

  “I’m staying too. So is Sheena. I’m not running, Jeremy, and Sheena can’t. She’d just slow you down and get you killed.”

  Sheena nodded. “You and Toni go on,” she ordered. “Make sure you take the time to gather up the things you’ll need if you get past those things.”

  “No!” Toni cried, squatting beside Sheena’s chair to embrace her.

  Sheena didn’t return the hug. “Go on. You’ve only got one chance at this and time’s running out.”

  Jeremy pulled Toni to her feet and looked back at Troy. There was so much he wanted to say but the words wouldn’t come. Troy smiled and shot him a mock salute. In spite of the tears burning in his eyes, Jeremy laughed. Then he nodded and led Toni out to gather what they would need.

  20

  The outer seal clanged as it dropped inside the corridor below, and minutes later a well-placed charge blew the inner door off its hinges. The mindless ones flooded down the passageway and into the base. Troy waited for them in the only unblocked passage to the control room.

  A man dressed in the tatters of a tuxedo came tearing around the corner, pink saliva flying from his mouth as he saw Troy and howled madly at him.

  Troy raised the automatic shotgun in his hands and fired, cutting the man in two at the waist. A woman in a bloodstained jogging suit was next, and Troy splattered her brains all down the corridor. When the shotgun clicked empty, he snatched up his M-16 and retreated towards the control room, firing on full auto into the increasing tide as he went.

  In the control room, Sheena struggled clumsily to ready the handgun Troy had given her.

  “You’re not going to need that,” Nathanial told her as the gunfire on the other side of the door was replaced by the sound of Troy screaming.

  Sheena looked up at Nathanial and understood.

  Finally the door burst open and a woman with matted gray hair and a bleeding hole in her left cheek led the creatures inside. Nathanial stabbed at his keyboard one final time.

  #

  Jeremy kicked the grate loose and leapt down into the garage. A quick glance told him that the area was clear of the infected—both breeds. He turned and helped Toni climb out of the vent.

  Only a couple of vehicles were left, and only one that he knew for sure still ran. He tossed his pack into the jeep. “Get in,” he told Toni, “and hold on.”

  Apparently one of the thinking infected had heard the thunk of the falling grate from inside the garage and was now opening the large doorway to check it out. Jeremy ran him down as he tore out into the dying rays of the setting sun.

  The few attackers who’d stayed up top were caught completely off-guard. Jeremy took advantage of their confusion and plowed through them. He spun the jeep’s steering wheel, making a sharp turn toward the gardens and the rear fence. He was already deep in the fields when the first shots began to ping off the tail of the jeep.

  He reached over and shoved Toni down in her seat. “Hold on!” he yelled as the jeep streaked towards the fence. He ducked under the dashboard as best he could, leaning over in his seat at the last second.

  The jeep tore through the barbed wire, dragging a section of the fence as it ma
de it clear. One of the tires blew out, but the jeep continued to roar forward until it crashed headlong into a tree.

  Jeremy rolled out of the driver’s seat. His back felt like it had been ripped to shreds, and blood leaked from large gashes the barbed wire had cut in his T-shirt. He looked over his shoulder to see the attackers giving chase. “Toni, are you all right? We have to move!”

  She didn’t answer and suddenly he realized she was no longer in the jeep. The barbed wire had caught her and had yanked her out. Her mangled corpse lay several yards back, tangled hopelessly in the fencing the jeep had carried with it. Jeremy knew she was dead from a single glance.

  He grabbed up his pack from the rear of the vehicle and slung it onto his shoulder as the attackers opened fire again.

  Suddenly the earth itself heaved under his feet and threw him into the woods as fire blossomed in a giant cloud from where Def Con had lain below it.

  Epilogue

  When Jeremy came to, night had fallen in earnest. The mob had been reduced to a scattered corpse here and there. Slowly dying flames could be seen inside the remainder of the fence around the Def Con complex.

  Jeremy coughed and spat blood onto the grass beside him. He looked up at the full moon, and a visible shadow stretched across it, dampening its glow. Jeremy wasn’t a physicist, but he knew something wasn’t right about it. His mind groped for an explanation of the strange shadow until he remembered an old episode of the Outer Limits he’d seen and recalled Sheena’s warnings about the fragments of the wave. He knew one of them must have made contact with the sun, causing it to go nova millions, if not billions, of years early. The side of the earth facing the sun was probably an inferno of death, and even as he sat there watching the moon, a tide of fire crept its way towards him as the earth turned. He had only hours left to live, but he knew his death would be quick and he took comfort in that fact. He removed a bottle of water from his pack and twisted off its lid. The night was so beautiful, and since there was nowhere to run, he decided to make the most of it.