The Z-Day Trilogy (Book 5): United States of Zombie

by Mark Cusco Ailes

  “I didn’t think we should take any chances.” He opened the door and walked inside followed by Mr. Rooker. General Milkwood stood glaring at both of them as they entered. He thought about rushing both of them and trying to find a way to escape, but the guard blocked his path.

  Mr. Rooker knew exactly what he was thinking and gave him some room. “You’re not a prisoner here, general. You can leave any time you want.”

  “I doubt that is true,” said General Milkwood sarcastically. “I know you want something from me or you wouldn’t have gone to the trouble of bringing me here. Where is the girl I was brought here with?”

  Mr. Rooker looked at the lieutenant. “Where is the girl?”

  “She’s in the infirmary. She had a mental breakdown. I’ve been told she’ll recover with time.”

  Mr. Rooker looked at the general. “Does that satisfy you? She’s going to get the best of care here. We have the finest doctors on our staff.”

  “I’ll want to visit her later.”

  “Of course, we have nothing to hide here. As soon as I hear something I’ll take you to visit her. Not to sound hasty, but we need to discuss something important.”

  “I’m not interested.”

  “But I haven’t told you what it is yet.”

  “You don’t have to,” said General Milkwood. “The answer is always going to be the same. If you’re a part of it, I don’t want any part of it.”

  Mr. Rooker looked at the lieutenant. “Leave the room.”

  “You know I can’t leave you alone with him.”

  “I’ll be fine. Just leave and close the door behind you. I don’t care if you stay on the other side of the door, just give us some privacy.” He watched as he reluctantly left the room and closed the door behind him. He turned his attention back to the general. “What will it take?”

  “What do you want from me, Norman? Why here, why now? I’m sure you knew I was trying to leave the country. You most likely knew my future plans for the zombies.”

  “Yes, I know what you’re trying to accomplish. You know how I feel about your idea of turning them into weapons. How do you think you can ever control them?”

  “We were on the verge of doing just such a thing. We had successfully created smart zombies we could control.”

  “And what happened, general? What went wrong with them?”

  “Donnie Jorsen, that’s what went wrong. He’s the one responsible for them escaping the park in Indiana. I was going to take care of him before your men came and took me away from the airport. He was there with me. I was going to deal with him, but I guess once again you found a way to foil my plans.”

  “What if I told you Donnie is on his way here as we speak?”

  “What are you talking about, Norman?”

  “General Tomes is bringing him here right now. They should be here any time now. Will you help me if I give you the opportunity to deal with him here?”

  General Milkwood looked intrigued. “What do you need from me?”

  “We’re trying to make a vaccine against the zombie virus. I believe we can save the country if we can cure the zombies and turn them human again. I heard you had some success with that.”

  “I don’t know where you got your information, but our process was turning people into zombies. We were able to turn the zombies as you know them into the smart zombies. Actually, it was more complicated than that.”

  Mr. Rooker stared at him as if he didn’t trust him. “Don’t lie to me, general, I already know the truth. All I’m asking you is for your help. I’m giving you the ultimate prize for it. Not to mention that soon as you’ve helped us, I’ll make sure you’re on your plane to leave the country. This is the only opportunity I’m going to give you.”

  “And what if I decide not to help you?”

  “Then you will leave me little choice but to give Donnie Jorsen the chance to kill you. I’m sure both of us can reach some kind of deal for your life.”

  “You wouldn’t do that.”

  “Wouldn’t I, general? You know me well enough to know I will do whatever it takes to get what I want. And this is something I really want. What do you say? Can we move forward with your cooperation?”

  The general remained silent. What was being proposed to him was a good opportunity to get his hands on Donnie. All he had to do was agree to help Mr. Rooker with something he didn’t know much about. He remembered some of the basics from the formulas that had been developed but not enough to be helpful. He knew he would have to keep it a secret that he wouldn’t be able to help them with what they were trying to achieve. It was the only way he could have Donnie delivered to him. He looked at Mr. Rooker. “I’ll do it.”

  Mr. Rooker smiled. “I knew you would come to your senses. Before we get started, let me take you on the grand tour.”

  Jewel and Erica were busy washing a load of laundry when Mr. Rooker brought General Milkwood to the laundry room as part of his tour. They felt Rashida’s gaze upon them as Mr. Rooker entered the room and made his way over to Rashida to introduce her to the general. Neither Jewel nor Erica said a word or acted as though they cared if the men had entered. Instead they kept working as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened. After a brief conversation with Rashida, the two men left the laundry room. Once they were gone, Rashida approached them and stood staring at them.

  “I’m pleased that you both behaved while Mr. Rooker was here. I will make sure you both get an extra dessert at lunch.” Without saying another word, she went back to the other side of the room to continue her folding. Jewel looked at Erica, trying to not be noticed by Rashida.

  “I’m out of here today. I’m going to try to leave during lunch. I’m not spending another day with that woman.”

  “But you’ll miss the extra dessert she promised us,” Erica replied with a slight smile on her face. “I’ll be right behind you. The sooner we get out of here, the better I will feel. I don’t want to do laundry for people we don’t know another day.” She stole a quick glance toward Rashida. “Not to mention, I don’t want to spend another day with her telling me what to do.”

  The guards walking the fence line surrounding Safe Zone Nine were on high alert. It appeared that every zombie in the city had found their way there, and were surrounding the property. General Tomes was at the rear entrance assessing the situation while several guards were doing the best they could to keep the growing hordes away from the gate. The general knew he would have to give the order to close the gates until the zombies could be dealt with. He knew it wouldn’t be long before the zombies began putting pressure on the fences. They had just let the last deuce and a half through the gate, and it was making its way toward the building.

  “Go ahead and lock it down,” he ordered the guards. “Make sure nobody comes in or goes out until we can deal with the zombies. If anybody questions your orders, send them to me. Make sure the front gate is informed.” He left to meet the deuce and a half at the building. General Cochran, Sergeant Hardwick, Angelo, and Donnie Jorsen watched as General Tomes approached.

  “I should have known you would be here, General Tomes,” said General Cochran.

  “It’s good to see you, Cochran. Welcome to Safe Zone Nine or as the residents like to call it, Paradise Inn.”

  “How secure is this place?” asked General Cochran. “It appears as if every zombie from St. Louis has found its way here. That fence isn’t going to hold them forever.”

  “Let me worry about the zombies. I have enough grenades stored here to easily deal with them. I won’t let any of them get through the fences. Perhaps you and your men would like to help me deal with them.”

  General Cochran answered without giving it a second thought. “It sounds like fun.” He didn’t need to turn to look at Sergeant Hardwick to know he would be displeased. “First, I would like to get cleaned up and get some rest. Then I want to find out why we were brought here in the first place.”

  “Of course, Cochran, I’ll take you inside and
show you to your quarters. We’ll need to get some information from each of you, and then you can shower and get a hot meal.” He led them inside the building.

  Reggie didn’t know what had happened to Mrs. Smith and Morana, and it didn’t matter. He wasn’t planning on taking either of them back to the car to retrieve his money and to continue on to the airport. He was now wearing a pair of dark blue scrubs and was making his way down one of the long hallways. He was desperately searching for a way out of the building. The place was like a giant maze that wasn’t leading anywhere. He thought about asking somebody for directions, but he figured it would attract too much attention. If he was going to get out of the building, he was going to have to find the exit himself and before somebody figured out he wasn’t who he was pretending to be. He continued down the hall and came to a large room with a man standing next to a patient with an IV attached to his arm. He was about to pass the room when he heard a voice ask him a question. He turned and saw a man standing there with a clipboard in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other.

  “Can I help you?” he asked, standing his ground. “What department are you from?”

  Reggie wasn’t sure how he should answer. He knew if he gave the wrong information, the man would know he was an imposter. “I’m from the dispensary. I seem to have taken the wrong hallway. I think I’m lost.”

  “I should say you’re lost. You’re on the wrong floor. I’m Doctor Chang. If you give me a moment, I will take you there myself. I have to pick up some medicine. Who is on duty today, Doctor Maxwell or Doctor Tibbs?”

  “Doctor Tibbs.”

  Doctor Chang stared at him for a moment. “Join me for a moment, I need to get something from my desk, and then I’ll take you to the dispensary.” He made his way across the room to his desk. He put the clipboard and the cup of coffee on top of it and opened one of the drawers. Without giving the stranger a chance to react, he brought out a .38 Special and pointed it at him. “Who are you? I know you’re not who you appear to be because we don’t have a Doctor Tibbs on staff here.”

  Reggie shook his head in defiance. “I wish you wouldn’t have done that. All you had to do was play along and everything would have been all right. I’m sorry but you brought this on yourself.” He took a step toward the doctor.

  “Stop or I’ll shoot!”

  “I doubt you will, doctor. I know you don’t have any experience with revolvers. Your hand is trembling and your finger isn’t on the trigger. You’ve probably never shot one of those before. We both know you’re not going to shoot me.”

  “Stay right there! I will shoot you!”

  “No, you won’t.” He continued toward the doctor, snatching a syringe filled with a dark yellow substance. “It didn’t have to go down this way.” He continued toward the doctor as he stood there frozen in place. His hand holding the revolver continued to shake uncontrollably. Reggie knew he wasn’t in any immediate danger and uncapped the syringe. “This is going to hurt you more than it will hurt me.” He reached the doctor, and before he had a chance to react, injected him with the dark yellow substance.

  “You don’t know what you just did!”

  “I don’t care, doctor. I didn’t create whatever was in the syringe.” He snatched the revolver from his hand as he heard a loud growl coming from behind him. He turned to look, and to his horror, the patient on the bed was standing there with a dark yellow substance dripping from his lips. “What the…”

  The zombie grabbed Reggie by the throat and sunk its teeth into his face as he fired a single shot. The shot missed its target and Reggie dropped the gun as the zombie ripped his nose from his face. Reggie tried to scream, but his screams were gurgled from the zombie crushing his windpipe. Reggie’s body slumped to the ground, blood showering from the wound on his face. An alarm sounded and the lights in the room flashed red as the zombie bent over his prize to rip more flesh from Reggie’s defeated body. The hallway was filled with nurses and doctors coming to find out what had happened.

  Mr. Rooker was sitting inside the staff cafeteria when the alarms sounded, causing him to spill his cup of hot coffee on the table. He looked at the general alarmed. “This can’t be good.”

  “What’s going on?” asked General Milkwood.

  “I don’t know. It could be a number of things.” He watched as several chairs were knocked over as staff members scrambled out of the cafeteria. He sat wondering what he should do. It was the first time anything like it had ever happened, and he wasn’t sure what course of action he should take. He was relieved to see Lieutenant Reardon running into the room. He immediately made his way toward them.

  “Sir, it’s the worst-case scenario! We need to get you to safety until it’s dealt with.”

  General Milkwood stared at them perplexed. “What’s the worst-case scenario?”

  “It’s a zombie attack.” He looked at the lieutenant. “Who has been attacked?”

  “I don’t have all the details, sir, but I heard Doctor Chang is dead. A team has been sent to his lab. I need to get you to safety.”

  “Nonsense! How would it look around here if I went into hiding while everybody else is in danger? No, take me to the lab. I need to be visible during a time of crisis.”

  The zombie rose to its feet as several doctors rushed into the room to witness the carnage that had taken place. To the left of the zombie, Doctor Chang stood with milky-white eyes and a dark tallow substance dripping from both his lips and nose. One of the doctors immediately closed the doors and warned everybody to leave the hallway and to call security. He stayed by the door as Lieutenant Reardon led Mr. Rooker and General Milkwood to the lab. The doctor halted them at the closed door.

  “You don’t want to go inside there, Mr. Rooker. Everybody is dead ̶ in a sense.”

  “I need to see what happened,” said Mr. Rooker, pushing the doctor aside. He opened the door and stood frozen in terror. Both Doctor Chang and the patient were bent over Reggie’s body ripping flesh from his bones. Mr. Rooker quickly closed the door and looked at the lieutenant. “Get the containment team here and have the alarms turned off. We have the problem contained.” He looked at the doctors and nurses standing in the hall looking fearful. “You can all go back to your work stations. I have the situation under control.” He looked at General Milkwood. “This is why I need your help. It’s obvious that Doctor Chang has failed once again.”

  General Milkwood knew Mr. Rooker wasn’t going to be pleased with him. If Doctor Chang wasn’t able to accomplish what Mr. Rooker wanted, he knew he wasn’t going to do any better. He knew he needed to inform him of that problem, but he kept his mouth shut. With the current zombie problem, he knew his secret would be safe for now. He watched as the lieutenant left and disappeared down the hall. He looked at Mr. Rooker. “Now what?”

  “The containment team will deal with the zombies. We have other pressing matters to tend to. I’ll show you to another lab you can use. All of Doctor Chang’s notes are on a special file I can access from my personal computer. I need you to start reading through his notes and figure out what he’s been doing wrong.”

  He stared at Mr. Rooker trying to hide the fact that he knew he wouldn’t understand a single word of Doctor Chang’s notes. It would just come off as a foreign language. The only other people he knew who could understand any of it was either dead or at Isla Zomblar. If he could get in contact with Cheng Liu at the island, he knew he could help him sort through all the notes. If anybody could figure out what Doctor Chang had done wrong, he could. “And what if I can’t figure it out?”

  “We’re not going to discuss that possibility. I’m not asking you to do this. I’m telling you to do this. I’m giving you to the end of the day to figure it out. Now follow me. The sooner I can get you set up, the sooner I can get back to this zombie problem.”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  No one thought there was even a remote possibility the zombies would grow in number, causing the concern that they could eventually push down the
fences surrounding Safe Zone Nine. Extra men had been summoned to stand guard around the fence line in case there was a significant threat of such a thing happening. General Tomes was staring at a section of the fence where a large horde of zombies appeared to be testing its strength. He knew it wasn’t actually what they were doing, because he knew they weren’t that smart, but the more zombies that gathered, he had the sense the fence would come crashing down at any giving moment. He knew he should have the alarms sounded, but he knew it would only cause chaos and mass confusion. It was the last thing he wanted. There had to be a solution to the growing problem without creating an unnecessary panic. He knew his men were afraid and were waiting for him to make a decision about what action to take. He knew what needed to be done. He turned to look at the guard nearest to him. “We’re going to use grenades. We can afflict the most damage using them. Let everybody know and tell them to meet me at the armory.”

  Jewel and Erica made their move the moment the alarms sounded. They disappeared out of the laundry room and made their way into the hallway while the rest of the women stood in their way looking confused. Jewel and Erica pushed past them, knocking anybody who got in their way against the wall. They had a purpose and nobody was going to get in their way. They continued swiftly down the hall hoping Rashida Fey wasn’t following them, but she was following them. Rashida had her eyes on them right as the alarms sounded and she followed them out of the laundry room suspecting they were up to something. She followed them from a distance so she wouldn’t be spotted.

  Mrs. Smith and Morana stood in the hallway staring at Jewel and Erica as they raced down the long hall toward them.

  “Death follows them,” said Morana, taking hold of Mrs. Smith’s hand.