The storm turned out to be legendary. It produced a record breaking downpour. The two vehicles they took had to wait out the rain at times. Visibility became limited but they managed to reach Chicago with little incident. Upon initial inspection, they found large groups of zombie activity to the far end of the city. Hidden by the storm, they snuck in undetected.
Parking the vehicles in a nearby garage, they went on foot to the Zalac building. There before them silhouetted by the lightning stood the gigantic sky scraper brooding against the veiled heavens.
Once Brady was able to get their servers running, everyone did their part. Together they analyzed a wealth of information left behind. After two days of reading, Brady called everyone together for a meeting in the conference room.
“It’s a sad story, Zalac,” he began as he leaned back in his conference room chair with the post-apocalyptic world of Chicago looming out the windows behind him. The storm continued its downpour beating against the glass. “As we knew, Zalac Enterprises was formed in the late 70’s. On the surface, they appeared to be a legitimate drug research company, but in private it’s quite a different story. From what I can tell, they were involved in many kinds of illegal activity. The bulk of it was in experimental human testing. They did unbelievable things to people. Zombification was just a part of their experiments. Thousands of people disappeared without any investigations. Zalac had ties to the FBI, the US government, and many foreign powers. I can’t find concrete evidence but it seems they had infiltrated many branches of the government.
“Throughout the 80’s and 90’s they preyed on countries torn by civil war. They’d arrive in a country, buy out the leading organization, and conduct kidnapping of the nationals. From there, they’d ship the foreigners to several different temporary facilities after sedating and packing as many as they could fit into stripped out 747’s like old slave ships. In the early 90’s they realized they needed a permanent facility. During the construction of Denver International Airport they developed a huge underground headquarters I’ve come to call ‘The Nex.’ When the airport finally opened in the mid 90’s, it became their main base of operations. They had ties to the Denver police, airport security, and the Transportation Security Administration. After flying their prisoners to Denver, they easily bypassed security and took their test subjects directly to the Nex.
“They treated the people worse than animals. Most of them died during the tests and those that didn’t wished they had. The documents are horrifying. They shot people full of experimental drugs causing all types of mutations, sickness, and irregularities. Plagues commonly broke out throughout the camp killing hundreds. They experimented with trying to attach extra appendages. They grew bugs inside others. They were obsessed with tests that changed brain composition. Patients often suffered hallucinations and visions. They tried to enhance brain functionalities, often ending in insanity. A whole section of the complex was built to house the insane. But eventually the officers ordered everyone there to be eliminated as a waste of time.
“As the years went on, they became more refined, leading up to their crowning achievement called Protocuss. The project had three goals. First, they wanted to unlock the human brain’s potential. Next, they wanted to create a sense of domination where the stronger ruled the weaker. And lastly, they wanted to deal with the remainder of humanity.”
“The whole thing,” Sara chimed in, “begs the question: Why? What kind of objectives are those? It doesn’t even make sense. I understand wanting to rule the world but why would you destroy it and turn its inhabitants into monsters? Where’s the appeal of being king of a graveyard haunted by terrors?”
“Some of their initial plans make more sense,” Brady continued. “The early zombies, called ‘Sleepers,’ ironically had no tendencies of violence. In fact, Protocuss was largely modeled after drugs they honed in to develop portions of the brain used for creativity and telepathy. It was this telepathy that first bonded the Sleepers into communities. Everyone in these communities seemed to be in some type of trance. They all seemed to experience the same disconnection from reality as if all of them were having the same dream.”
“Dreaming, survival of the fittest, isolated communities, and massive death,” Connor thought aloud, “Sara is right, that just doesn’t add up. There’s a missing piece that has to connect everything.”
“The answer could be the link to Colorado,” Brady continued. “They chose to build the Nex and their bunker there for a reason. The underground bunker in the Rocky Mountains is mentioned several times. I used to believe it was their main base of military operations, but now I realize it is a storehouse for the brightest and best from their testing in the Nex. There must be answers in their choice of characteristics for Protocuss. Of all the side effects they created, why did they choose those features?”
When no one ventured a guess, Brady continued. “The loss of life is staggering. In the records of the Protocuss project alone the death toll is in the tens of thousands. Most of them foreigners. The company consumed humans like natural resources. Even before it broke the world, it was a monster.”
“Why telepathy?” Moses came out of deep thought to ask. “Do you think that is how they keep order among the ranks? Does this confirm why the Cheyenne Mountain Complex zombies aren’t interested in leaving? They truly are living out the last orders they’ve been given because they’re unable to receive new ones. Brady, when you were a zombie, do you remember getting orders or subliminal messages of any kind?”
“Constantly! I felt the Zombie King like a throbbing inside my head. There were times when I saw vivid hallucinations and he spoke directly to me. It was so natural to me at the time I don’t know if he spoke with his mouth or through telepathy. That’s a great thought, Moses. When I first came across the zombie camp in Colorado Springs, I was amazed at how unified they were. A common goal seemed to drive them. It makes a lot of sense that they would use this type of communication to keep their army in line.”
“I think,” Sara said, “it would be a decent strategy to target the third level zombies and see if rippling chaos ensues.”
Brady grew silent as the discussion proceeded without him. When Sara finally asked him what he was thinking about, the others grew quiet. “I hear the drumbeats,” he said rising to his feet. The others listened intently but heard nothing. “This discussion, like water, flows all to one place. Through burning eyes I see over the horizon of time. All roads lead to war.”
Slowly Brady sat back down as if a spell were leaving him. “We’ll be hard pressed on two fronts. On the land we must fight their hordes and in the skies we must beware of their eyes. Although the ash will hide us some of the time, we cannot count on them not watching our movements. We are a threat to them as we grow. Already our numbers are swelling. I am surprised we’ve met as little resistance as we have. We’ve been moving freely about the Springs recruiting for our ranks without major incident. I am convinced there is a reason they haven’t struck.
“But when the time comes, their wrath will fall swift and hard. I would not be surprised if they bring zombies from multiple locations to Colorado Springs to destroy us. Even if our numbers triple, there is no way we can defeat an onslaught of thousands. By sheer numbers alone they will overpower us. We must be cunning in our survival. We should not be too attached to Colorado Springs when the time comes. It would be wise to split up our new recruits into groups and send them to different cities. I fear being too collected into one location. Connor, would you like to be in charge of the dispersion of the men?”
“I can be,” he replied somewhat coldly.
“Sara and Moses, are you two alright continuing to train the new recruits?”
“I would be honored,” Moses responded in his deep voice.
“Of course,” Sara replied.
“I feel we have accomplished everything we set out to do here,” Brady announced. “Unless someone has objections, I think we should return to the Springs before the storm’s su
bsiding gives us away.”
No one objected and so they proceeded out of the conference room but Connor remained behind with Brady.
“So you are our commander now?” Connor asked.
“I suppose I am,” Brady replied.
“Going to drag us through another one of your infamous plans? This isn’t our war, Brady. What happened to living peaceably ever after?”
“Can you truly rest knowing the world is in the state it is? Can your heart remain idle knowing those monsters out there are only a shadow of what they once were?”
“I want to start over. I’ve always wanted to start over since the beginning. I don’t want to save the world. I want a city where we can defend against the zombies. We can get back to society. I really don’t want to be a part of this grand business of yours anymore. There’s no part of me that wants to enter into a pissing contest with Zalac! I’m married now. I want to settle down and begin a family again.”
“And what kind of world would you have your children grow up in?”
“We’ll find some remote island to settle away from all this.”
“You don’t understand what we’re dealing with here. They are out for nothing less than genocide. They’d never let you live in peace anywhere.”
“How do you know that? Are you seeing the future again? You’re going to drag us all through your terrible dreams again aren’t you? You drag us into decisions based on information we’ve never had. I’m tired of being out of the loop. It’s like you don’t trust anyone in the group anymore. You’ve withdrawn into your own little world of secrets. And I know it’s killing Sara. She’s your wife for God’s sake! And you keep her in the dark. This is all too much for one man to handle. You can’t lead a world rebellion on your own. You need us. You need me. Stop being so cryptic!”
At this last comment, Moses stepped back into the room and asked, “Everything alright in here?”
“Yes!” Connor yelled angrily at him and pointed to the door. Moses grunted softly at Connor shooing him but then slowly left.
“Connor,” Brady began, “how do I show you the way things are? You think I like putting you through this?” Brady lowered his head for a moment and breathed heavily. “I know I influence many. That is why I am so careful with what I say and how I say it.
“Connor, I will speak to you plainly. War with Zalac is coming. It’s inevitable. The way things are now, we won’t last a week against them. We must find a way to tip the scales in our favor if we are going to have any chance of survival much less success. I’ve been trying to find a bargaining chip to give us some leverage.
“You have to believe me when I tell you that I speak cryptically for your own benefit. The road ahead is filled with so much hardship that if I spoke to you in plain text you would be disheartened and give up.”
Connor threw his hand in the air. “What do you know about what I would and wouldn’t do? So you’re the only one strong enough to bear these secrets? You’re going to get us all killed for your little ego trip.”
“I know Val doesn’t want to have a baby but you do.”
“What does that have to do with anything? Don’t change the topic from you being an asshole.”
Brady started to smile at such a comment, but Connor would not allow himself to show any excitement.
“All I’m trying to say is that I care,” Brady said. “We were friends once if you remember. I’m just concerned for you.”
“You’re not doing so hot yourself. You hardly spend any time with Sara. She worships the ground you walk on and you don’t give her the time of day. Kind of makes all you made us suffer to save her a waste, doesn’t it?” Connor immediately knew he had crossed a line.
Though unpleasant to hear, Brady knew the words to be at least partly true.
“You’re right,” Brady said sitting down on the table. “I haven’t spent the time I should with her. I’ve been too wrapped up in all this.”
“No, Brady, I’m sorry,” Connor said. “I shouldn’t have said that. There’s been a lot of friction between Val and me lately and I’m on edge.”
Connor sat down in one of the chairs and continued, “It’s not so much that we can’t have a baby so much as she doesn’t want to. And I can’t help but wonder if I jumped too fast. I thought it was going to be the four of us for a lot longer. I thought she’d be the only hope of female companionship, but now,” his voice trailed off. “She’s young and fierce and I’m… old. It made a lot more sense when it was just the four of us.
“And it doesn’t help that you and I used to be equals. I was just as important as you were. I was the brains and the rescue guy, but now I feel like I don’t have a role. Even in your reclusion, you’re stealing the show. I know some of it just happened and you weren’t trying. You’re more of a natural leader than I am. But I feel like some of it is on purpose. I feel like you’ve been pushing me out of the spotlight at times.”
“Connor, there is a lot going on right now. Many things depend on each other and are hanging by threads.” Brady could see he was already unhappy with his answer. “Why don’t you take this new opportunity to be a leader?”
“To disperse the troops?”
“Yes. You’ll need to pick leaders for new colonies and setup some type of government infrastructure. Setting that up from scratch kind of sounds like your thing.”
Just then Sara poked her head into the conference room. “Are you guys coming?”
“Yes,” Connor said standing, “we were just leaving.”
As Connor made his way out of the room, Sara came in and took Brady’s hand to pull him off the table.
“Come on, old man,” she taunted.
“There’s one thing I need to do. Should just take a moment. If you wait in the hall, I’ll be right there.”
“Ok,” she said letting go of his hand. “One minute.”
Brady climbed up onto the table and got into a position to meditate.
A little more than a minute later, he came out into the hall. Sara was astonished that he almost stumbled on the way out of the room. He placed a hand on the wall to steady himself. He looked at her and immediately moved over to embrace her. He desperately pulled her into himself and pressed her head up against his shoulder. She embraced him back despite her confusion.
“Is everything ok?” she asked.
He just held her even tighter and frantically kissed her head.
“Brady, you’re scaring me.”
He pushed her back to be able to see her face. “I just love you. I love you. I love you.”
“Ok,” she said in a confused tone. “I love you too.”
He worked himself up to a smile. “That’s all. I just love you.” He grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the stairs.
• ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙
Neither of them had to drive first, so Brady sat next to Sara and put his arm around her. She leaned her head against his shoulder and they talked.
“I’m sorry I’ve been so distracted lately,” Brady began. “I regret not being able to spend more time with you.”
“Brady, you lead so many and I am proud of you. Yes, I wish we had more time together, but I know how deeply you feel others’ pain. I know you can’t help doing something for them. It’s part of who you are. It’s one of the reasons I fell in love with you. But we should get away just the two of us. We’ve been so disconnected.”
“That would be so good. I’ve missed you.”
He held her tight for some time until her head started to slide down from falling asleep. She woke just enough to whisper, “Wake me up when it’s over.”
Just as the clouds were starting to break over the western slope, they arrived in Denver. Stopping at a gas station near the interstate, Brady announced he would not be going with them back to Colorado Springs just yet. Connor exploded. He took Brady aside and they exchanged harsh words. The others raided the gas station store as the two continued their argument. Once they had taken everything they wanted and t
he two still bickered, Sara and Moses broke out a deck of cards.
Three hands into poker, Connor came stomping over to the store. “Brady is no longer going to lead us. He’s abandoning us so he can go explore the Nex.”
Sara immediately went to Brady’s side. “Am I not coming with you?”
“I will be back in a day or two. I will take you away then to the mountains. We could spend some time in Woodland Park or camping.”
“Why can I not come with you? What is there that you need to see alone?”
“I can’t risk anyone else coming. I believe the facility is highly contaminated.”
“Then how are you going to protect yourself?”
“I’ll be careful,” he reassured her.
“But why can’t I come? We just talked about spending more time together.”
“It’s too dangerous. I can’t risk it.”
Sara shook her head knowing she would get no further with him. She returned to the rest of the group to find Connor just finishing his rant. She walked through all of them shutting herself in one of the vehicles without a word. Connor cast a glaring look at Brady who was now standing alone at the far end of the gas station. Moses slowly moved over to speak with Brady. The two of them spoke briefly with Moses towering over Brady. The vehicles started and Connor honked to signal to Moses they were leaving.
When Moses entered the vehicle, Connor immediately warned him. “So you are his favorite now? Beware, it changes quickly.” They drove off in a hurry leaving Brady standing alone in the misting rain.
• ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙
Once they left, Brady quickly found a working vehicle and began driving east towards the airport. As he arrived, the dusk sunlight broke quickly through the clouds just before sinking below the ridge of mountains. The rain had cleaned the air so that Brady was able to see the airport well before he arrived. Hastily parking in the garage, he went flying into the main terminal looking for the check-in stations. He noticed the distinct lack of bodies immediately. Zombies lingered nearby.
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