Snow! The Series [Books 1-4]

by Clifford, Ryan

  Money and human support had poured in. All refugees of Irish descent were repatriated – if they wished – and began the enormous task of getting the country back on its feet. Temporary buildings were erected and the supply chain for food and clothing was reinstated. The ports of Cork, Waterford, Galway and Sligo were reinvented. A massive investment programme was instigated and the harbours were busier than they'd ever been. Freight lorries rumbled all over the western sector of the island and the road system was undergoing a serious facelift. Limerick had been designated as the new capital, where the government was set up. For the immediate future, the old elected politicians took up posts whilst new elections were organised. The military was beefed up, as was the Garda. Northern Ireland had been all but destroyed by the snow and subsequent thaw and flood, and was now deserted of all human life. Dublin was the same.

  However, the zombie threat had raised its ugly head in early April, and the surge westwards started in earnest a month later. Although the military had set up a defensive cordon from Sligo through Athlone down to Waterford, the mutants were no respecters of imaginary borders.

  They also had a leader.

  Niamh Kielty – the ‘Kite’ had suffered a similar fate at the hands of her pet cats and parrot and was now positioned in Greystones, near Wicklow, controlling her own particular horde. It was smaller than that in the UK. Of the six and a half million total Irish citizens, almost two million perished in Northern Ireland. Those living in the west of the province fled west and south during the early days, but many left it too late and succumbed.

  Nearly two million died in Dublin and the surrounding areas alone.

  The further west one travelled, the less harsh the weather became and when the snow stopped, nearly two million Irish citizens had survived. Clearly, they were shell shocked – but they were alive and in their own country. This compared most favourably with the UK citizens living in camps in Germany and France.

  The storm had been ferocious in Ireland, but not on the same scale as mainland UK. They had been on the edge of the weather and the west had escaped altogether. As a consequence, the populace was able to console and support itself.

  In the UK there had been nowhere to run.

  So, by late April, the infrastructure was beginning to re-assert itself. Computer engineers had re-booted the Irish internet system and enabled the surviving banks. Money supply was resumed, as was medical care, food supply and fresh water.

  Obviously, the east was a disaster area.

  Buildings had collapsed, flooding had caused widespread devastation and corpses littered the countryside. It was uninhabitable.

  However, because the Irish had a bridgehead – that is, a positive starting position – they were optimistic about recovering the eastern side in due course. It would take many years, but at least it was a possibility.

  The only fly in the ointment was the rise of the mutant threat. The Americans had counted almost twenty thousand of the horde and they were moving inexorably westwards in search of human flesh. They were being controlled by ‘The Kite’ and when the first groups crossed over into the safe areas in late May, the Irish suddenly realised that they had a fight on their hands.

  The Irish Premier had been co-operating with the CIA, who had advised that the ‘secret’ of the zombie threat be just that. International and national panic was to be avoided at all cost. Internet and telephone contact outside of Erin was forbidden, restricted and policed by order of the CIA and their huge computer controlled assets. Enormous amounts of US military support flooded into Ireland and up to early June the country had been holding its own. The Irish felt that they had the situation under control, even though many of the zombies were infiltrating into remote areas, causing chaos as terrified potential victims fled in panic before they were overcome.

  The fight to control the threat had become top priority and the Irish Premier was thankful that the British were finally acknowledging the problem. He had been forced by the Americans to explain the threat as a simple ‘plague’ to his own citizens, and his credibility on the subject was wearing thin. It was clear that the Americans were controlling the situation and flow of information, but at least he could now be open and frank with his own people about the threat, which they all faced. The secret was now ‘officially’ out. All D-Notices placed upon the press had been lifted as the news from New York permeated through. Of course, there had been outrage from some quarters of the Irish population, but it was all now water under the bridge, and recriminations were merely a waste of breath. There was a new country to build.

  Consequently, he sat in the office of the British First Minister on that Sunday and had some baffling news to impart.

  ‘Well, Prime Minister, perhaps you could reveal the reason for this meeting. I am due to meet with the American President within the hour.’

  The Irishman sat up and looked straight at Lord Irvine and smiled, probably for the first time in many weeks.

  ‘We wouldn't have disturbed you if the news wasn’t critical. You and your staff will want to be learning of a development in Ireland.’

  Lord Irvine’s patience was running thin.

  ‘Well, Martin, let's have it!’

  The Irish Premier smiled again as he replied:

  ‘It's the mutants. They’ve stopped.’

  ‘What do you mean – stopped. Make sense man!’ barked Lord Irvine.

  ‘I mean that they have stopped. All of these bloody creatures have stopped walking. They have just…stopped. They are just standing stock still. Not moving. Doing nothing. Immobile. I can't make it any plainer!

  They’ve STOPPED!’

  Day 184 / Z-Day 149

  Sunday 16 June

  Brussels

  As this improbable and perplexing conversation was taking place, Professor John Forbes was standing in the observation room above the isolation ward that contained his erstwhile colleague and friend, Abraham de Silva.

  Abraham lay immobile in his bed, pale, yet perspiring profusely, his heart rate dangerously high.

  Since his unfortunate exposure to mutant gore in the snatch helicopter his condition had worsened considerably. It had been five days since they had extricated the CIA scientist from the helicopter and five days since he had lapsed into a coma. Forbes was determined to discover one of two outcomes of this tragic situation:

  One: would Abraham merely die from the infection and thus confirm that the mutants could not procreate?

  Or, two: would Abraham mutate into a full blown zombie and attempt to join the horde?

  If the latter proved to be the case – then mankind was doomed. If these creatures could impregnate their live human prey and thus multiply – then living humanity would never be able to completely destroy the threat. The proliferation of their numbers would be logarithmic. Just one mutant would be able to infect thousands of others. It would be impossible to kill them all.

  Forbes shuddered at the thought and prayed that his old friend would simply die.

  However, there were no signs of that happening, as yet.

  Abraham remained in his deep coma. His vital signs were only mildly irregular and apart from his pallor, there were no outward signs of metamorphosis.

  However, Forbes remained in a state of intense anxiety. Unless and until Abraham stopped breathing, there was always the chance that mutation would occur. Forbes couldn’t order the life support to be withdrawn – he had to know how this particular victim developed.

  It was critical to the survival of mankind.

  Day 184 / Z-Day 149

  Sunday 16 June - 2300

  Brussels

  Following the brief and startling meeting with the Irish Premier, a hastily convened gathering was called to discuss the implications of the astonishing news from Ireland.

  Although the rise of mutant life in Ireland had been kept under wraps for security and to prevent public hysteria – the cat was now fully out of the bag, and the media was pressing for news of Irish developments. It
had been revealed that military forces – mainly American had been assisting the Irish and that the relatively small numbers of mutants were on the back foot. Techniques to combat the threat had been rapidly developed, and up until mid-June, the mutant invasion from the east of Erin been slowed down.

  The revelations from the new Erin came at approximately the same time as the UN had declared the global emergency from New York – and the press had been quick to condemn the secrecy – asserting that the peoples of the world had a ‘right’ to know the truth.

  Cases for both sides of the argument were raging fiercely, but in the final analysis, the danger to Western Europe outweighed the problem on the ‘Sceptred Isle’. The threat there was geographically contained. The mutants had no desire to head east or take to the high seas, as their source of nourishment lay in abundance to the west. Television and internet pundits gradually came to accept this argument and fully turned their attention to the British problem.

  However, world reaction continued to rage unabated.

  Disbelief and fear were the two primary emotions, and the immediate reaction of those most threatened was to flee.

  And this is exactly what the authorities had attempted to prevent by keeping the events in Erin a closely guarded secret.

  However, the horse had now bolted and the world leadership turned its attention to destroying the mutant threat where it now lay – in the old United Kingdom.

  Conversely, Lord Irvine now had another staggering development to deal with. At first sight, the news from Ireland seemed to be a Godsend. Nevertheless, the meeting in his office that evening was critical to the survival of Western Europe. The data must be confirmed and, more importantly, fully explained.

  ‘Just why have these creatures ceased their advance, Admiral?’

  There were about a dozen people at the mini-conference.

  Lord Irvine and his triumvirate. The US President, who had set up his European Operations Centre in the SHAPE HQ at Mons, north of Brussels was attended by his senior military advisor, SACEUR, (Supreme Allied Commander Europe), his ADC and the head of the CIA. The Premiers of France, Holland and Belgium plus the Irish leader had been summoned, as had Professor Forbes. There was also an American Photographic Interpreter who was prepared to give her analysis of the imagery from Ireland. The final group of attendees were three secretaries who would record the minutes of the meeting.

  There would be no more secrets.

  Lord Irvine repeated his question:

  ‘Just why have these creatures ceased their advance, Admiral?’

  He was addressing SACEUR, who was an American five star naval officer. This man controlled all of the allied NATO forces within Europe and some beyond. It had been he who had been supervising and controlling the fight against the mutant advance in Erin.

  ‘My analysts are attempting to come up with an answer as we speak, First Minister. The advance ceased abruptly at 19:54 hours last night – the fifteenth, and it appears that it was a simultaneous reaction. Currently, we have no concrete solution to the question you pose, but the PIs are working on the problem. I have brought Colonel Dylan to amplify my comments.’

  The Admiral turned to Colonel Dylan and nodded, indicating that she should continue:

  ‘Good evening, sir, ladies, gentlemen. My analysts are currently studying photographic and satellite imagery collected over the past forty-eight hours in an attempt to determine the cause of this phenomenon. It is true to say that there is no movement of any kind from any of the mutant army. Our forces have approached individuals in an attempt to elicit a reaction – but there has been none. The mutants have merely ‘closed down’. The vast majority are standing, but some have collapsed to the ground. I must say that we are somewhat puzzled.’

  The head of the CIA interjected.

  ‘I assume that we are taking steps to annihilate these creatures whilst they are in this dormant state?’

  Lord Irvine looked mildly puzzled.

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘I mean, sir, that we should be destroying these ‘things’ before and if they wake up.’ The CIA man sounded exasperated.

  The penny finally dropped with the British First Minister and he turned to the American President.

  ‘What are your plans to achieve this, Mr President?’

  ‘I’ll leave that to the military, but I believe Professor Forbes might have something to say on the matter.’

  Forbes sat at the back of the room and stood up to address the meeting.

  ‘Please come to the front and take a chair professor,’ indicated Lord Irvine.

  Forbes walked steadily to the front, took a seat and, without further prompting expressed his opinions and analysis.

  ‘Firstly, I agree with the basic concept of destroying the creatures whilst they appear defenceless. However, there are reservations to be expressed. We must destroy the head or separate it from the body. No other solution will be permanent if and when they should reactivate. Troops should also be careful not to infect themselves during the decapitation process. But I would advise caution. It may not be necessary to put our soldiers at risk if my theories are substantiated. As you may know, Lord Irvine authorised the capture of live mutants from the British mainland. We have conducted two such expeditions and made some interesting observations. During the first operation, one of your SAS sergeants was infected through a nick and whilst in isolation post-mission, he developed symptoms. The ill-fated Sgt Leach had scratched his neck whist shaving that morning before the mission and unfortunately, as he endured the decontam procedure some of the virus must have entered his bloodstream. He began to demonstrate symptoms within two hours and was dead within twenty-four.’

  ‘Yes, I know about Sgt Leach. Regretfully, I must take full responsibility for his death,’ said Lord Irvine.

  Forbes responded quickly.

  ‘Not your fault, sir. Leach knew the dangers and is a casualty of war. In fact, his death was not in vain. It is convincing evidence that infected live humans may not contract the virus and make the full metamorphosis to mutant. We cannot state that as a fact just yet, but the proof is growing. As we speak, there is another victim lying in the isolation ward outside Brussels. His name is Abraham de Silva, a CIA scientific officer. He was infected during the second sortie to the UK. We – I – needed two live specimens to examine and observe, and during the pick-up he was spattered with mutant gore. He was careless. As a result, after five days he is still lying comatose in the isolation block. There are as yet no symptoms of mutation – which is very encouraging sign. We are hoping that he dies before doing so.’

  There was a mild murmur of disapproval at Forbes’ cold-bloodedness and lack of compassion. He picked up on it and responded without emotion:

  ‘Ladies and gentlemen, you may think me callous, but Abraham was – is - my friend. However, if his death can provide clues as to how we combat the threat, then his passing will not have been futile. In short, we have no room for sentiment in our present predicament. If we are to prevent the looming catastrophe – or even reduce its impact – then extraordinary steps must be taken. He is dead anyway, there is no cure!’

  The head of the CIA spoke:

  ‘I concur completely, Professor. Please continue. What became of your two captives?’

  Forbes was warming to his task:

  ‘This is where we might be able to determine why the creatures have halted their advance westwards through Ireland. The two creatures, one male, one female were placed in a specifically designed observation cell. They were aggressively seeking nourishment whilst on the helicopter, but quietened once located in an airtight environment. Essentially, they couldn’t smell human flesh. It was soon after this that something remarkable occurred. Perhaps I should show you the video. I know some of you have already seen it – but it serves to remind us of the dangers we face.’

  Forbes re-ran the short clip of the video showing the exploding heads and continued speaking after the hubbub had died down. />
  ‘It is my considered opinion that these two mutants were destroyed remotely. Each of the mutant heads that I have examined at autopsy has had one thing in common. Above the left ear has been a small gristly protrusion - and I have detected faint electrical impulses and synaptic pathways in every case. I believe that a ‘mutant controller’ in the UK transmitted a powerful electronic burst and obliterated the two creatures before we could fully observe and examine them.’

  Lord Irvine spoke first:

  ‘A controller? I thought you said that ‘zombies’ were uncontrollable.’

  ‘Yes sir, I did. But that applies only to conventional zombies infected with Solanum. That particular virus is not applicable in this situation. The mutants in the UK and Ireland have been infected by DNA from feline and avian life. These are quite different. This is why I am investigating whether they can procreate. In any case, the protuberances behind their ears are unique. We face a completely different type of creature and I believe that they can communicate. If not – how the hell did someone or something know that the two captives in Brussels were to be destroyed. There must be a communicative ability within these new creatures.’