POW! (Book 1): The Zombie Days

by Wonder, Peter

  "Making dead things into smart, living dead things would be my first guess, being that I've been nearly eaten by a handful of them," I snarled.

  "My work may not have been perfect from the start, Mr. Wonder, but over time I believe it has become so. With the device I created I should now be able to neutralize their desire to dine on the flesh of those that have yet to be turned into the living dead. By altering the thought patterns of the targeted individual, I can divert their attentions elsewhere." The doctor grit his teeth and was clearly beginning to get pissed off. That made me happy.

  "That's great and all, but what about these other test subjects of yours? Are they smart, too? Or was it just those few and this female of yours?" I asked.

  "As far as I know it was just those few. This female that I have told you about, however, is another story entirely. I'm not quite certain what it is about her, but during our observations we had noticed that she seemed . . . I’ll say more clever than the others. That’s how she managed to escape. Best case scenario is that she just be avoided entirely." He was trying his best to calm himself down again. He wiped his hand across his mouth and poured himself another drink.

  "Whatever you say, Doc. So, you think that you’ll be able to stop them? Then why the hell haven't you done it yet?"

  "Of course I can stop them, only it is been proving a little bit more challenging than I had first anticipated. It seems as though my thoughts are their thoughts, but only for the time that I am wearing the device. After that, they seem to go back to their usual cannibalistic urges after some time has passed. We have moved here for the remainder of our testing and tweaking phase, which begs the question: How on Earth did you find us out here in the middle of nowhere? What possibly could have possessed you to leave the camp, make your way through the city of the damned, and into our testing facility?" He took a sip of his Scotch.

  "One of your guys had a tummy ache and couldn't make it. Do you remember a guy named Jose Garcia?" I asked the doctor.

  "Ah yes, he and I are actually good friends, as a matter of fact. How is it that you know him?"

  "We used to work together. He's the one who told us where we would be able to find you guys. He said that he didn't like the way you were approaching the situation. He was a good guy with morals, not that you would know anything about that. He will be missed."

  "I see,” he said, looking down at his desk. ”He will be missed, indeed." The doctor finished the Scotch in his glass. I grabbed mine, looked at it, and then poured it on the floor.

  "He deserved one, too. Hopefully, you and I will be able to come to some sort of ending with all of us working together, now. Without Garcia, we probably never would have found you."

  "Unfortunately, I don't see it that way. I am absolutely positive that my device will work as intended, and I will not allow you to stand in my way. I am sorry to have to do this to you, Peter. I hope you won't hold it against me."

  I felt enormous hands on my shoulders.

  "C’mon, Vincent. I thought you and I were past all of this?" I said, looking up.

  Vincent was back to his silent, giant self again. This situation was going to be a great big pain in my ass. He brought me back down the hall and to the room I’d previously been held in.

  "I'm not going to have to be taped to that goddamn chair again, am I, Thunder?" I asked.

  His fist went sailing into my belly, and I felt like it didn’t stop until it crashed into my spine. I fell to my knees and heard the door slam shut behind me. I heard voices and felt hands on me. I looked up to see my group of friends locked in the room with me.

  "Seriously?" I strained to speak. "That douchebag tossed his own wife and daughter in here, too? I'm going to have to talk to Vincent about this."

  "Who the hell is Vincent?" asked Evelyn.

  "Vincent is my new friend you guys just saw dropping me off for this play date with you. I'm going to have to have a chat with him and get him on our team. I think he likes me, so it shouldn’t be too difficult." I was on the floor, still cradling my stomach and gasping for air between words.

  "Well, you sure did seem to bring a smile to his face when you let him thrash your stomach. Looks like that dude could've been packing his fists with bowling balls," Kyle noted.

  "Yeah, babe, you really have a special way of getting through to people, huh?" Evelyn joked as she tried to soothe me.

  "So, did y'all get the same treatment as me? Or am I the lucky one here, Bully?"

  The kid looked at me and gave a little shrug.

  "Since I'm the only one I see on the floor I'll go ahead and say that I'm just lucky. Good for them. If they hurt any of you I would smash these walls down and rip their heads off."

  "Really, man? You can't even sit up right now. You think you'd smash through some concrete walls and start rippin' dudes' heads off?" retorted Mac.

  "Well, after a few minutes. I didn't mean right this second. C’mon, Mac. Of course I'd need a little recovery time. How long have we been here, anyway?" I looked around the room for a clock.

  "Only a few hours, but it feels like an eternity. I can only imagine how you're feeling, son," Carolina said, bowing her head in sadness. "I don't know what's wrong with Chad. He was always such a kind man. Something must have happened to him."

  “So, where have you all been? You weren’t in here when Jumbotron came to get me a few minutes ago.”

  “We’ve been in here since they brought us to this place. They took you and separated you because they said you might turn, even though we told them that you hadn’t been injured,” answered Evelyn.

  "I see, I guess all of the doors in this place kind of look alike. Evelyn, you seemed to have a good grasp on what 'the device,' as your father called it, was intended for earlier. Do you have any idea as to what it possibly could have done to him?" I asked.

  Evelyn sat in silence for a moment, thinking.

  "You know, I didn't really even consider that that helmet could have done something to him until you mentioned it, Pete. You should really give yourself more credit sometimes. But, since you did mention it, I suppose it’s possible that, as my father was attempting to get into the minds of all of these zombies, some their thoughts could have also seeped into his own mind. Maybe that's how some of them were able to gain intelligence, even. Maybe in some cases the procedure goes the complete opposite direction than what he intended." She gasped as she came to this realization. "That is, of course, assuming zombies do have thoughts of their own."

  "So, what you're saying is that some of the zombie thoughts may have been transferred over to your dad?" I summed up.

  "It's possible. And, in case you haven't noticed, the zombies have a fairly one track mind, whereas my father is usually pretty reasonable for the most part. But now, he seems to only have a mind for testing his device, no matter what it may do to those he cares about, or how many people could be harmed as a result." She seemed to be in a bad place emotionally right now.

  "So what you're saying is we need to get out of here and stop him. Got it."

  "No, Peter, what I'm trying to tell you is tha-"

  "Got it. Our first order of business would be getting the hell out of here. Who has an idea?" I said as I got to my feet, finally in a painful motion. "And where the hell is all of our stuff?"

  "They took all our shit, homie. They said we wouldn't be needing it while we're here."

  "How often do they visit? Have they given you guys any food or drinks? Usually in a place this high class and swanky there are plenty of free amenities," I said, still searching for anything of use.

  "Now that you mention it, no. They haven't given us squat. I don't think I speak for just myself when I say I could use a little something to sip on," said Mac.

  "They’ve made this too easy for me. I'll just pound on the door and demand better treatment, or some shit, and one of you guys will stand behind the door. When they open it up, you bust him in the head and we can get the hell out of here."

  "Not bad. Le
t's get started," said Mac.

  I began to laugh.

  "What's so funny?" asked Evelyn.

  "It's really not funny at all but, being trapped in here and trying to escape, I feel kind of like a prisoner of war."

  "You're right, that's not even a little bit funny," she said, shaking her head in disgust.

  Kyle chuckled. "Dude, now we can call you P.O.W."

  "At least someone got it. Alright, without any further delay I'm going to get started. Mac, you're behind the door. Kyle, you're going to be my backup. Just stand next to me on this side of the door. You can help shout and knock, so they don't think something's up."

  "Because one person knocking and shouting is somehow suspicious?" Kyle asked.

  "Duh. Would I have mentioned it if it wasn't?" I began pounding on the wall. "Hey! We're hungry and thirsty! You can't treat us this way!"

  Kyle soon joined in.

  Chapter Nineteen

  "Give us some water!" I shouted with a dry mouth.

  "Pete, it's been like an hour, homie. I don't think they're gonna cave," said Kyle, who was now squatting next to me with his back against the wall, rather than knocking and shouting with me like he was supposed to.

  "But now I'm really thirsty after all of that pounding."

  "Are you idiots finished, yet? I've been out here just waiting for you to shut the hell up for even a second. Y'all want this water? Then I suggest you shut your mouths and get the hell away from the door," said a voice on the other side of the door. I knew it wasn't Vincent because this guy sounded like a little wiener. I signaled for Mac to back off. I wanted to play this a little differently than we had originally planned.

  "Alright. We're good," I shouted back.

  I heard a key enter the lock from the other side of the door. It swung open, revealing a scrawny little dude with a pitcher of water.

  I snagged the pitcher from his hand. "Thanks," I said before taking a big gulp of the water, then passing it off. "Did you bring us any sandwiches or anything to eat? My friends haven't eaten in a while. At least get a little something for the kid."

  "Alright, I'll see what I can do," the little guy said, looking at Bully with a bit of sadness in his eyes. It looked like he’d probably lost a boy he'd been close to before. I guessed it was probably a brother—he looked too young to be a father. He opened the door and stepped back out.

  "What the hell was that, Pete?" asked Mac in a pissed off tone.

  "I’ve got a new plan. This little dude might be able to help us out. Think about it, if we were to get out of here, we wouldn't know which way to go! Maybe I can sweet talk him into helping us get out of h-"

  "Peter, you do know that you were the only one of us that had to be carried in here, right? The rest of us walked in and we know just how to get back out of here." Evelyn decided to inform me of this now rather than during the past hour I’d spent banging on the door.

  "Right . . . Well . . . maybe he'll snag us some grub, then. I know I damn sure could use a bite to eat. So, you’re telling me that you know where they have all of our shit and where the exit is? That's fantastic news. Here's the newly revised plan. First, we'll knock homeboy out and take his rifle. Next, we'll have ourselves a nice lunch, assuming there is enough food to do so. After that, we'll go to the storage room and collect our personal effects. From there, we'll go ahead and split off into two separate groups. Alpha team will be Mac and me; together we'll go attempt to collect or destroy the device. Team two-"

  "You mean Bravo?" inquired Carolina.

  "If I meant Bravo then that's what I would have said. Anyway, team green will be led outside and out to safety by Kyle. Once you're out, you'll need to find a place to hide, but preferably still be able to see us. That way, you'll be able to signal us to your position. There still might be a high zombie presence out there, so you’ll really have to watch your asses."

  As soon as I finished laying out my flawless plan, we could hear the key in the lock outside.

  "No time for further explanation. It'll work itself out. It's go time," I said, getting into position.

  The door swung open, only it wasn't the little wimp I was expecting. Instead, the ogre Vincent entered our room with a loaf of bread. He walked through the door right after the others scrambled into the same positions as before. From behind the door, Mac pounded his fist into the back of the guard's head. Vincent's head was forced forward from the blow. He took a few steps forward, but he didn’t go down quite so easily. He stood erect and turned to face Mac. As he cocked back his giant fist to clobber him, I shouted out, "Sorry Shrek!" and swept his legs out from under him, causing him to collapse to the side and hit his head on the floor. While he was down and stunned, I grabbed the door and slammed it on his head just hard enough to knock him out. After all, I didn't want to kill my newest friend. That just would have been bad manners.

  I liberated his rifle and key ring from him before grabbing the loaf of bread and tossing it to Bully. Kyle and Mac both had to help me drag his enormous ass from the doorway and into the corner of our cell.

  "Thanks, dude,” said Mac. “That motherfucker was about to ruin my day, man. That was a close one."

  "You tall dudes usually go down easy enough. C’mon, guys, let's get out of here. Where are all of our bags and guns and stuff?" I asked.

  "Follow me, man. Unlike you, I was born with a sense of direction," said Mac as he stepped out of the room. He turned the opposite way we would have gone to get to the doctor's office.

  "My sense of direction is just fine, thank you," I informed him.

  "Are you sure about that? I'm pretty sure you'd be lost as shit even if you weren't knocked out when we all got to this place. You're just lucky you got an excuse this time."

  "Tell me about it. Thank God for that initial butt strike to my cranium and all of the blows to my head and body that came thereafter. This is really my lucky day, isn’t it, you dingle berry?"

  "Shut up man, why you always gotta say something?" he said with a hint of frustration.

  "Because you love it so much. Duh."

  He let out a small chuckle and turned his head to try to hide it. He turned around a corner and into another hallway which was much shorter than the one we were just in. He went to one of the doors on the left, turned the little silver knob, and the door popped open without needing one of the keys. We were lucky it wasn't locked and we didn’t have to wait for Mac to fumble around with the substantial key ring to find the right key. We all piled inside of the small storage room.

  "How many doors deep are we, Pete?" Mac challenged me.

  You bastard. "Three. Why, you thought I wasn't counting?" I said confidently.

  "Two, bro. I told you that you suck at directions."

  Our assembled group began grabbing our things and getting ready for the next stage of our plan.

  "You good, Kyle?” I asked. “Thanks for staying with the girls and the kid. Just try not to shoot anything before we meet up with you, okay? I don’t want to arouse any suspicion or attract any additional threats to be dealt with."

  "I can't promise that, but I'll try not to get the urge," he said, grinning.

  "Alright, I think we're all set. Good luck out there, guys," I said.

  "Yeah, you too, man. Hopefully you won't need it," said Kyle as he and the others headed out of the storage closet.

  "The last time you said something like that, you slapped a horse and almost got me killed. I think I’ll take the luck this time, man,” I mumbled, although he’d already left the room and couldn’t hear me. “Are you ready for this, Mac?"

  "Let's get it, man. It’s no time for us to just be standing around."

  I exited the door behind Carolina, broke off down the opposite way of the hall, and headed back to the doctor's office. Damn, it was only two doors to the storage room. I turned back into the main hallway and went to the door that had a nameplate on the wall. Doctor Chad Korpiklaani, it read with black lettering on gold plate. The hallway was still clear
both ways. I looked back to make sure Mac was ready for anything. He gave me the nod and I tossed the door aside and raised my rifle. To my dismay, the office was totally empty.

  I went to the desk where the device had been located when I was here earlier. There was no longer anything sitting atop the desk. I hoped that maybe he’d put the thing away somewhere in the room, so I ripped all of the drawers from the desk and emptied them out on the floor. No joy.

  "Why you bein' so loud, man? Damn, what happened to noise discipline?" Mac asked.

  "I guess you're right, but fuck this guy, Blackness. This doctor dude is a giant douchebag for what he’s been doing to the zombies. Help me look inside these cabinets and then flip them the hell over, too."

  Mac shrugged and nodded as I started yanking the drawers out. He did the same thing to the cabinets on the other side of the room. After we’d destroyed the office, there was still no sign of the device.

  "You want to start going room to room?" Mac asked.

  "Nah, man. That would take just the two of us all night; this place is fucking huge. I think it might be too late for that now, anyhow. I think that us just showing up might have forced them to jump the gun on Operation Graveyard Earth. Let's go check on Kyle and the girls and see if we can come up with some more ideas on how to proceed with this." I reached for the door, but Mac grabbed my wrist to stop me.

  "If they haven't gone to start testing, they could be off fuckin' with it more and makin' it even worse, Pete. I think we should try to look for this asshole."

  "They aren't trying to fuck everything up on purpose, bro. The doctor just isn't in his right state of mind. Maybe a nice savage beating to the head and face could rattle free some sane thoughts, though. How about we go pay a visit to our replacement prisoner and try to get him on board?" I said with a smile on my face as I imagined the doctor getting a beating.

  "You're the man with the plan. Let's do it, brother." He let go of my arm and I proceeded to open the door. We headed down the hall once more and made it to the turn. Once we went around the corner, I bumped into the little scrawny fella that proclaimed to be a guard as Mac slammed into my back, knocking the wormy dude to the floor. I promptly smashed my fist into his jaw and easily knocked him unconscious.