Rage: Z Is For Zombie Book 5

by catt dahman

  No one looked at him.

  Michaels glanced towards Colonel Davis.

  Frank growled and turned to a different man, “If a soldier is given an order and doesn’t follow it, what is the act called, soldier?”

  This one, Gerwald, didn’t even pause. “It is treason, Sir, punishable by execution.” He drew his sidearm, fired once to Michael’s head, turned the gun, and shot the boy in his head, as well. With a cold stare, he asked, “Anything else, Sir?”

  “Not now. Well done, soldier. You may all go.” He and Roy came over to greet Colonel Davis and the other men. “I see we have guests.”

  “Like you didn’t notice that before you put on your little show of intimidation?” Len asked with a scowl. “That was uncalled for.”

  Davis gave him a warning look that Len didn’t understand.

  “You are funny,” Frank stated. “Did the Colonel tell you we joined up?”

  “I think he forgot to mention that.” Len was worried now as he heard this; he had been wary before he was told.

  “Oh, God,” Matt moaned, imagining what this meant for them and wondering how the Colonel and his men had fallen in with such a bad group of people.

  “Oh, what a shame he forgot. Yes, we are one entity now; he saw the wisdom of our tanks…er…talks. We have joined forces, and he was professional enough to recognize our superior leadership.”

  “Is that so?” Kim asked. “I find that strange.” Kim suddenly felt they were going to die. This was what Davis said with his fearful eyes. Davis was a figurehead at best but had no power at all. They had walked into a trap.

  “It isn’t. I think he’s been most impressed with what we have to offer…or who…wait until you get to meet little Pascal and his father, Lucas.”

  “God,” Matt repeated.

  Frank laughed, “No, that’s the last thing you’d find here; there is no god.”

  3

  Reconstruction Army

  Colonel Davis led Len, Matt, Nick, and Kim into a room with a big table and cushioned chairs. They had sodas and were made comfortable. Len and Kim stopped making smart remarks as they tried to make sense of the changes in the Colonel’s military group.

  “I’m sure you have some questions spinning in your head, Len. And, Kim, didn’t I last see you chained to a tree and in cuffs?” Frank laughed.

  “Yep, that was me with the infected lashes on my back…left you a treat…if you ever went back and found your men: the scalped ones? I left them for you,” Kim said.

  “Oh, nice job by the way, scalping; wow, you’d make a helluva RA member,” Frank said. “I was impressed with your work. You wanna be one of my men?”

  “Nah. Swastikas aren’t my thing.”

  “What a shame. We could use your talents.”

  “I’ll pass.”

  “Davis told us you are less than happy with Dr. Diamond.”

  “That’s an understatement. I heard you have some of the bad ones with you. He called them demons, said they ate people and other crazy shit.”

  “Ehhh, yep, we do have some good, long pig roasts,” Frank said, “maybe not as roasted as raw.”

  “Wow, all that meat; I think it causes people to become imbeciles, or if they already are, it causes delusions. You having them yet?”

  Frank chuckled.

  Len said, “You don’t worry about contagious people? Could have sworn you just had a man shot over a bloody nose.”

  “I put them down.”

  “The hybrids?”

  “Yep. Once I heard what they were, well, we don’t like diseased people.”

  “Never thought we’d have a common feeling, Frank,” Len said. “We’re here looking for a hybrid woman and child; they infected some of ours and got some people killed. Named Carla and Robbie. Hendricks.”

  “I wish I had thought of sending a few in to wipe out all of you, missed out on that idea. Haven’t seen them. Women have one use here with us, and children have no use at all,” Frank said. He smiled as the door opened. “Davis, we have seen those two?”

  “No. I knew Hendricks and his wife. She and the kid didn’t come here.”

  “That’s all we came here for. Since you haven’t seen them, I guess we can move on now, no reason to wear out our welcome,” Kim said.

  “Oh, stay a bit and see our surprise guests.”

  The other leaders came inside. It was as if an arctic wind had blown in as Lucas walked through the door, tall, haughty, dressed in black, with an evil half-grin on his face. He was darkness and dread personified. His son, Pascal was with him, dressed like his father, half of his face handsome in a dark, cold way, the other side withered and deformed so that he had only one eye.

  The third man was the President of the United States.

  Nick slide down in the chair, glad he wore the hat, wore a stubble, and wore sunglasses. His brother might recognize him, but Nick felt glad to see Alan alive but also sick that his brother would be with these people. His one positive thought was that Alan didn’t look like himself; he was detached, lost, and confused-looking.

  “Welcome. I wish you had been here to enjoy Pascal’s sermon today; it was particularly informative and thought provoking.”

  “Sorry, we missed that,” Len said, “I like provocative bullshit. Even from a kid although I can’t say that is my style of entertainment.”

  “He reminded us why we had this plague brought down on us.”

  “Oh, he was upset about Dr. Deadly and the biological terror he released?”

  “You are very misguided. The world brought this on with its sinful, less-than-perfect ways: niggers, spics, Jews, and chinks having voting rights in America! Queers out in public and having parades, women working and taking jobs from men, not in their rightful places: abomination.

  Drugs and drunkards: it was wrong, and the plague and fires rained down on us because of all of that. We allowed the weak and worthless to be in control, so we were wiped out with weakness and the sick and infected as punishment. Only the strong shall inherit the world,” Lucas intoned.

  Len rolled his eyes. “So you think God didn’t like all of that and punished us?” He felt the world had gone insane although some people spoke like this before the plague.

  “No, we punished ourselves. We cleansed ourselves. We did it; isn’t that ironic justice?”

  “Really?” Kim asked. “You say all of that is wrong: picking on people because of skin color or religion or gender or ideals, but then torture is okay and whipping people? Chaining them and making them slaves?”

  “Brother Pope will tell you the same: Old Testament, chum; read it. And the ones who refuse to hear the word of Pascal are crucified because they will not listen. It was always just to punish slaves, stone the wicked, and take out the first- born.

  Read, my friend; read. God was trying to follow the true order of the world, but then his kid came along, was too tenderhearted, and did all the forgiving, just started letting the lesser people think they were equal.”

  Len, for the first time, was almost speechless after hearing that speech. It offended him in too many ways to even list. “Forgiving is wrong?” he muttered, trying to understand how this man believed.

  “Read, Son, read.”

  “I have. Did you miss the second half?”

  “There is only Pascal’s half,” Lucas said mystically.

  Len wondered about that last statement. Pascal had half of a face, and Lucas said there was only Pascal’s half. Odd. But he went a different way. “Pope?”

  “Yes, and here he is now, the man you stole the compound from.” Lucas opened the door and made a motion.

  Norman Pope, former television evangelist, came into the room in a rush and sat down smiling. He looked smaller and crazier than he had looked on television.

  “Awe, the kiddie porn collector,” Matt muttered in disgust.

  Pope held a hand out and said, “The words of an infidel do not harm me.”

  “Infidel? Gotta love that,” Matt said, �
��you pervert.”

  Len and Kim laughed aloud.

  “Okay, whatever, we came to see the Colonel and to find out if the woman and kid, the hybrids, came back here, simple as that. If they aren’t here, then we have no reason to stay here. I don’t need a lesson in warped Biblical style; this is too far out for me to comprehend,” Len said.

  “You don’t have to comprehend it; just accept it on faith, practice it, and follow it. There is a new world order.”

  “I thought you preached for God; you said He was gonna send a demon after you if you didn’t get several million bucks,” Matt countered. “I saw it on the Internet.”

  “And did demons not come after us? Only, it was man himself who designed the demons, and they did arrive, but now by the grace of a new god, we can be saved if we follow what is perfect and natural.”

  “I need a road map to follow all this warped bullshit,” Matt added.

  “Wow, Pope, you can spew with the best of ‘em,” Len said. “What is this meeting about besides bullshit?”

  Lucas chuckled. “I see you don’t understand. Let me explain. We want the compound back for Brother Pope and our people. In exchange, some of you may help lead, and some of your people will be welcomed to remain. You will find our people reasonable, and Pascal is very charismatic. We have a new world order of strong, disciplined people. We can survive this.”

  “We can, too,” Len said, “and you said some people? Meaning?”

  “Well, you know that some are less than what we want in the new world.”

  Pascal grinned. Even for a five-year-old, he was sly-looking. He watched a fly buzz about the room, reached out, and grabbed it. Popping it into his mouth, he smiled at the men as he crunched down on the fly. Len didn’t flinch but licked his lips. “Yum. Next time, please share.”

  Frank said, “No niggers, queers, no pussies, and no sissies. Mexicans and Jews are worthless and should be eliminated, no hybrids, no old geezers; children are generally a waste, no retarded people, no one who is maimed, deformed, or crippled, no freaks, Goths, computer geeks, or stupid people. Women in their places: cooking, cleaning, lying on their backs, natural, true order.”

  Len just digested that for several long seconds. Some of his best warriors fit in those categories and were good people. “I don’t think we can go with that. We seem to be fond of our losers we have,” he said sarcastically. “And…ummm…you say Pascal here is your new god, but he isn’t…ummm perfect? Have ya noticed that he is a little deformed?” He enjoyed taking a stab at the mean-looking child.

  “No shit,” Kim added, “seems hypocritical to me.”

  “He is perfection,” Lucas said in a low voice, his eyes like daggers.

  “Sure, little fly-eating gods are all the rage,” Matt laughed.

  “It must come to pass,” Pope said.

  “Still preaching, huh? Pervert.” Kim sneered at Norman Pope.

  “I have good news to share now. God has forgotten us, and we have forgotten Him, and we have Pascal. Everything is right with the world,” Pope announced.

  “Crazy fucker,” Len said. “And behold, there shall be an antichrist who rises…riiight; we have Pascal: literally Lord of the Flies.”

  Only Frank and Lucas laughed.

  Charts and pictures on the walls flew in a whirlwind, the little pins popping out everywhere as the papers scattered. Len, Kim, Matt, and Nick ducked as the papers and pins flew by them. Pascal glared at the men, moving his hands as if he were directing an orchestra, letting them know he had somehow sent the papers flying. He glared and hissed.

  “Cool party trick,” Len snapped. “I’ve seen street magicians do better. You aren’t scary at all. Shove those papers and pins up your ass, and I could be amused.”

  Pascal glared. “I can do things that would give you nightmares.”

  “Hey, kid, we had nightmares about you; you’re almost as scary in person. But nah, trust me; I’ve seen better tricks and much better magic,” Len said.

  “Zane. My half brother.”

  “Yeh. The one who got the looks, brains, and talent,” Matt snapped.

  “He’s a child. Have some respect,” Lucas roared.

  They only looked at him with bored faces, hiding their inner fears. These people were insane, but they were in charge, and the kid did have some scary abilities.

  Colonel Davis jumped in to save the conversation. “They came here, and I must admit they won the battle. Those of us who were left stayed on and were allowed to help; they had more fighting. We were over confident, but that’s the past now, and here we are.

  Lucas has demanded that Dr. Diamond stop protocol, stop trying to find ways around the virus and prion infection, and find a way to cure it, and stop it totally. Dr. Diamond is working on a cure and has test subjects, but the cure is proving difficult, and he has made no progress.”

  Len took that to mean the soldiers had their ass kicked by Frank and his Reconstruction Army and were lucky to be alive.

  “I don’t think he tries hard enough,” Lucas said.

  “Frank, he wants a cure, and removing his toes doesn’t help.”

  “Toes?” Kim asked. He didn’t even bother to ask what test subjects were being used.

  Lucas shrugged, “Snip, scream, back to work. It’s incentive. If he finds a cure soon enough, maybe he won’t lose them all; he still has eight; he can walk, but regardless, he doesn’t need toes to conduct his work. He won’t need balls, either.”

  Colonel Davis winced. “So we have this….” He spread his arms. He was trying to make the other men understand he had been beaten and that they were all in trouble.

  “And all the disgusting hybrids have been executed and burned. Dr. Diamond, misguided as he is, called them his Angels, but alas, Angels can burn as well as the next man. The Colonel was kind enough to identify all of them for us.”

  “I preferred to keep my balls,” David said. “And I suppose it was right to get rid of carriers, so I told him about each and everyone. All of them, every single one.”

  Len nodded. His mind whirled. First, he thought Frank was a hybrid, and probably many more were as well. He didn’t know if the Colonel knew that they knew Diamond’s secret, but he knew they knew that John Ponce was a hybrid and that Juan and his team held Ponce and three other men captive right then. Two hybrids, at least, were alive, and none of these men knew it. “Glad you got them all,” he said, hoping the Colonel understood.

  “We want the compound. And we want the child.”

  “What child?” Matt played dumb.

  “Zane, the fair child whom the wolves bow down to and who dances with light. We want him,” Lucas said in his old-fashioned way of speaking, his voice melodic. “ No place for him is available in this world of power and perfection, and his life is a blight on my son’s life.

  When I took the woman, Leandra, and put my seed in her womb, it was for a new world. It was only supposed to be Pascal, son of the dragon and master of scorpions and corpses. It was only supposed to be he who would sow the earth anew with screams and purity.”

  Len shook his head. “That sounds like a bunch of gobbled-bullshit-fantasy- Star Wars-Luke-I-am-your-father-crap.”

  Frank vaulted over the table to attack Len, and Len went at him, furiously. Punches flew before other men could drag them back to their seats. Len was glad to see Lucas now sported a busted lip.

  Lucas clucked his tongue. “You have no faith in poetry and life. You’ve been around the little cocksucker Zane who is a master of light and fecundity. It’s over. We want the compound. Trust me: Zane won’t be killed; we want him alive.”

  “I want to be invisible sometimes and spy on people, but guess what, it ain’t happening.”

  “How will your people fare when you, their leaders, are dead?

  “Just fine.”

  “I’m not a leader anyway. I’m the enforcer,” Matt grinned hatefully.

  Tiredly, Nick took off his cap and glasses but didn’t look at his brother. “I used
to have a brother who was a leader, but I’m nobody. I won’t be missed at all.”

  Nick was pleased when his brother, going pale, excused himself suddenly to go check on something. Shock was good.

  “They have four of our men unless they come back as hostages,” Davis said. “We can let them go and get our men back.”

  “I don’t think so. We have the great and glorious Len Bernhart; we have the cream of the crop, and losing him will put a dent in their cockiness,” Frank said. “And the notorious scalper, Kimball Decker. The other two…fodder, but we have some good leverage.”

  Davis gave Len a look of defeat.

  “I want one of you to run an errand for me. You will go to those holding our men and ask for their return. I don’t care one way or the other, mind you, but I want the child, Zane, brought to me. Do as I ask, and your compound and the people will not be touched by us, by my word; I swear by my son for ten years….”

  “Ten? Huh?” Len asked.

  “Ten, your reprieve if you bring me the child. Then, you will have time to move away before we take the compound in ten years when Pascal is mature enough to lead his battle.

  If you do not return with the child, we will attack and kill everyone except the white women whom we will use as breeding stock. It’s your choice,” Lucas explained.

  “I see. Wow. Just wow…what an ultimatum,” Len said. He acted as if it were meaningless, but this chilled him to the bone, knowing this man meant it.

  “Who will go?” Lucas demanded.

  It was a hard choice. What would he be sentencing the rest to? But he knew whom to choose: he and George spoke often. “Matt.”

  “Hey, why me?”

  Kim gulped but steadied his voice. He had a vote, and he could say anyone at all. “Matt.”

  Nick didn’t hesitate. “Matt.”

  Frank stood. “Good, we’ve decided.”

  “Okay, so I give everyone your terms; then, what about Nick, Kim, and Len?” Matt asked.

  “I’ll let them go back for ten years, and when those years are up and we come knocking, I hope Kim and Len are right at the gate waiting on us. I’m a’plannin’ on scalping like you’ve never seen,” Frank said, “slice and dice.”