by Scott Shoyer
“The originators of the virus built the infection around a strain of DNA that is essentially a fusion of all DNA found on Earth. Of all life.”
“Wait a minute,” Wilder said as he stood. “So you’re saying the DNA contains strands of animal and human DNA? Is that even possible?”
“Human, animal, and insect DNA,” Stefan corrected Wilder. “And no, it’s not possible. At least not on Earth.” Stefan again looked at Rickard awkwardly.
“Was this virus released intentionally, or was it an accident?” Wilder asked.
Instead of answering, Stefan looked at the floor and twirled a pen around in his hands.
“As far as we know, the virus was released intentionally,” Rickard said. Before now, Rickard had sat quietly in his chair as he listened to everyone arguing about what to do.
“We believe the virus was released with malicious intent,” Rickard continued.
“How do you know that?” Cheryl asked. “Everything happened so quickly. One day everything was normal, and the next day all hell broke loose.”
“There may be a few things we know about this virus,” Rickard finally said.
Wilder’s eyes narrowed as he sized Rickard up. Wilder didn’t like Rickard. Wilder knew this was a man with a lot of secrets, and during battle, secrets cost people their lives.
“Why don’t you tell us what you know, Rickard,” Wilder said. “Every detail you keep from us could kill us.”
Rickard sighed. “I’m not at liberty--”
“Don’t give me that bullshit,” Wilder said as he cut him off. “What do you think is going on up there? This is the end of the fucking world, and you’re still protecting secrets? What the fuck is wrong with you?”
“I think it is time to tell them, Rickard,” Josef said quietly.
Rickard shot Josef a look that could melt steel.
“Enough bullshit, Rickard,” Wilder said. “What the hell do you know?”
Rickard regained his composure and sat up his chair.
“Some of my business associates have known about this virus for a while,” explained Rickard.
“How long?” Wilder asked through clenched teeth.
“Over three decades,” Rickard answered.
“This virus has been around for over thirty years?” asked Steele as he stood and gripped the handle of his sledgehammer.
Rickard looked at all the faces in the room. “Yes, but it hasn’t been active.”
“When did it become active?” Wilder asked.
“I think you know the answer to that,” Rickard responded.
“Tell them why,” Josef said to Rickard.
“That’s enough out of you, Josef,” Rickard shot back at the man.
Before Wilder could say anything, Rickard continued.
“The virus seemed to be on some kind of schedule,” said Rickard. “We’re not exactly sure what the schedule is, but one day, the virus seemed to just activate itself.”
“What the hell does that even mean?” Cheryl asked.
“It means that, since the virus activated itself, we’ve been on a clock that’s been counting down.”
“Counting down to what?” Steele asked.
“To our extinction,” said Rickard.
4
600 Miles Above Earth
The large craft hovered above the Earth. It’d approached a few days ago and settled into its gravitational pull in order to observe.
The inhabitants of the craft had studied the effects of their bio-nano engineered virus and were pleased. Infection rate was one-hundred percent, and not one living on the planet was immune.
According to the instruments on the craft, the vast majority of the world was infected. There were a little over seven billion people on Earth, and the alien estimated that the ratio of infected to human was around two-hundred-thousand to one.
Invasion would be easy at this point, but the aliens had decided to wait and watch everything play out longer. It wouldn’t be long until the transformations began, and once that happened, then Earth would be theirs.
They considered themselves lucky to have found a planet abundant with so many resources, especially life. The oxygen-rich atmosphere wasn’t ideal, but they’d adapt.
They always adapted.
Besides--The Convergence would help take care of the atmosphere on Earth.
After ninety-nine percent of the human population was infected, the aliens would invade. The uninfected seventy-million humans left alive would be rounded up and harvested. The aliens planned to cultivate Earth’s remaining survivors and keep their numbers between fifty to seventy million. This is when the farming of the human species would begin.
The invaders understood the human’s nine-month reproductive cycle, and that fit in perfectly with their plans. They already had a serum ready for the child bearers on Earth, and the male species wouldn’t be required. It was better that way due to the inherently aggressive nature of the males on the planet.
Only enough of the males would be kept for labor. There was no real use for them now that the serum was perfected. Newborns would mature at a faster rate. Females would be able to bear children quicker and at younger ages, while the newborn male children would be used primarily for food.
The females would be easy to keep pregnant. The serum would also help the child-bearer’s bodies recuperate faster so they could be impregnated again soon after childbirth. The aliens had worked on trying to speed up the nine-month gestation cycle, but this was something they’d had trouble with.
But the aliens adapted.
With the serum, females would be able to start having babies at age ten, and the aliens had extended the age of childbearing to sixty years old. Add one month of recovery time to the nine-month gestation period and one female would be able to have sixty babies in the course of their lifespan. But the aliens never stopped experimenting, and were confident they could improve those numbers.
Once the females could no longer bear children, they too would become food.
It was a perfect system the aliens had developed with absolutely no waste. There were enough resources on the planet to sustain the alien race for decades. The other motherships would soon arrive and The Convergence would begin, but until then, the invaders would carry out their primary mission:
The extermination, then conquering of, the human race.
Chapter Three
1
Twenty Miles Outside Huntsville, Texas
Sam Houston Trailer Park
Everyone looked at each other nervously as the trailers around them shook violently.
Riker dropped to his knees and looked underneath the trailers. His face turned pale white when he saw the number of zombies that surrounded them. Over the last two years, Riker and the other guards hadn’t had to use much of their ammunition once the fence was constructed, but as he looked at the feet of the infected, he knew what ammo they had wasn’t enough.
“Everyone stay together!” Riker shouted over the noise of the trailers. “Grab anything you can to use as a weapon.”
The infected pushed hard against the trailers and rocked them back and forth. It became clear that they weren’t just intending to scare the humans with the trailers--they intended to knock them over and crush them.
Hector, Teagan, and Riker stood together as they watched the trailers and readied their weapons.
“Fuck this!” Greg shouted as he pulled the bolt back on his carbine. “I’m not gonna sit here and wait for these fuckers to push these damn things on top of us.” Greg stood and looked around to see if anyone was with him.
“Cool down, Greg,” Frye said. Everyone knew that, if channeled correctly, Greg could use that aggression against the zombies. But if he went off half-cocked, he would endanger everyone’s lives.
“I’m with Greg,” Noonan said as he stood.
“Me too,” Reece said.
Riker wasn’t surprised by that at all. Whatever Noonan did, Reece was sure to follow.
“If you’re going with me, Noonan,” Greg said, “you need a better weapon.” Greg threw his riot baton over to Noonan, who tossed aside the lawn chair.
“No gun, huh?” Noonan asked.
“Don’t push it,” Greg said. “Let’s go. Let’s bring the fight to them. Is anyone else with us?”
No one else moved.
Murphy looked at Greg, then at Riker before saying, “I’m going to fight here.”
Greg, Noonan, and Reece ran to the far end of the gathering area and stood next to one of the rocking trailers.
“See ya later, guys!” Greg shouted back to Riker and the others. Greg had a twinkle in his eye Riker noticed every time they were in a life-threatening situation. Greg was a violent man who thrived on the violence around him.
“There’s something not right about that fella,” Murphy said as he nodded to Greg.
“No,” Riker answered. “There’s not.” Riker watched as the three men ran from the cover of the trailer right into the jaws of Hell itself.
“Everyone who doesn’t have a weapon, listen up!” Riker shouted over the noise. “We’ve been using all these trailers for storage. There’s all kinds of equipment in them. I know they’re rocking, but you need to get inside them and find some weapons. We’ll cover you out here.”
Murphy didn’t hesitate and chose the trailer right next to him.
“Come on, everyone!” Murphy shouted. “We need to arm ourselves!”
Murphy, Paula, and Brian entered one trailer while Braden, Stewart, Gary, Emily, and Kimberly entered different ones. Riker and the others watched over the trailers and made sure none of the infected entered them.
As fast as the trailers began to rock, they stopped just as quickly. A stillness filled the air that was shattered with the occasion gunfire from Greg’s carbine.
“Wh-What’s going on?” Jackson asked. “Why did they stop?”
Murphy and the others exited from the trailers with weapons in their hands. Murphy carried a long piece of wood along with some barbed wire and a staple gun. Once he was clear of the trailer, he wrapped the barbed wire around the thick stick and stapled it firmly in place. Paula had found a rusty pitchfork, and Brian held a lawn edger. Braden walked out of one of the other trailers with a post digger and worked the handle back and forth. The cupped part on the other end opened and closed.
Stewart smiled as he held the two hatchet-hammers in his hands. Gary had found some garden trowels and carried one and had three more in the waistband of his pants. Emily and Kimberly each wielded shovels.
Everyone gathered together in a tight circle as they looked at the still trailers.
“Why did they stop shaking them?” Kimberly asked.
“I don’t know,” Riker answered, “but be ready for anything.”
*****
Greg led Noonan and Reece between the trailers. He knew the noise of the shaking trailers masked their footsteps. Greg peered around the corner of the trailer and quickly pulled his head back.
“Holy fuck those things are everywhere,” Greg said as he tried to hold back his laughter.
Noonan and Reece looked at each other nervously.
“Why the fuck are you laughing?” asked Noonan.
“Why?” answered Greg. “Because this is gonna be fucking fun.” Greg jumped from behind the cover of the trailer and shot two zombies in the face. He slammed the butt of his carbine in another zombie’s back.
Noonan followed Greg a few steps back and cracked a zombie in the side of its head with the hard baton. The zombie was stunned but didn’t fall. This was the first time since getting out of the Huntsville prison that Noonan had been this close to the infected. He never noticed their yellow eyes before.
Reece was right next to Noonan and swung the 2x4 board. He hit a few in the head and slammed the edge of the board into a few others’ faces, crushing their jaws. The zombies, though, were strong, and didn’t easily fall.
The two inmates heard Greg’s insane laughter through the gunfire and knew they’d went with the wrong guard.
“This guy’s fucking crazy,” Reece said. “I’m going back to the group.” Reece knocked two more zombies down, but knew they’d be standing up again soon.
“You’re gonna go back, Reece?” Noonan asked. “What do you think that psycho will do to you when he finds out you abandoned him out here?”
“You’re assuming those things aren’t going to tear him apart,” Reece answered.
The two men were fighting back-to-back and holding off the zombies, but watched as more creatures left the trailers to come after them.
“Fuck this!” Reece shouted as he ran toward the nearest trailer. He kicked the door in and was about to shut it when he saw Noonan’s hand appear.
“Come on, Reece,” Noonan said as he entered the trailer. “Let’s get this trailer secure.”
As soon as they had the door closed, the trailer shook from the infected slamming their bodies against it. Reece shoved the 2x4 board underneath the door handle of the trailer and jammed the other end against the floor. The door was secured, but now Reece was weaponless.
“What the fuck are we gonna do now!” Reece yelled.
“I have an idea,” Noonan said. “Go that way to the far end of the trailer and break out the window,” Noonan continued.
Reece didn’t hesitate and ran to the window. They were elevated enough off the ground that the zombies couldn’t grab them through the opening.
Noonan ran into the kitchen part of the trailer and disconnected the propane hose from behind the stove. The smell of the fumes quickly filled the space.
“I’m gonna open the front door in a few seconds!” Noonan yelled. “When I do, you jump through the window and run like a motherfucker!”
Reece saw a hammer on the floor and picked it up.
Noonan started his countdown. “Three. Two. One…”
On ‘one,’ Noonan kicked the 2x4 away from the trailer door and quickly headed to the open window. Reece jumped through the window and was immediately met by four zombies. He struck one in the head, but the other three were too fast for him. The infected jumped on Reece and tackled him to the ground.
Reece lifted his hand for help, but Noonan didn’t even attempt to stop. He looked on as the zombies tore apart Reece’s body.
“Thanks, buddy,” Noonan said as he watched Reece being ripped apart. “You did exactly what I needed you to do.” Noonan then grabbed his zippo lighter, sparked the flame, and threw it into the trailer.
Nothing happened.
Noonan panicked when there wasn’t an explosion and quickly looked around. The three zombies that killed Reece stood up and were looking for their next target.
“Get down!” someone shouted.
Without hesitating, Noonan dropped to the ground as the distinct crack from a rifle sounded. The bullet tore through the air and hit the propane tank on the side of the trailer Noonan had just escaped from. The trailer blew up as the gas inside ignited.
The zombies inside the trailer were blown apart, and the concussion from the explosion took out more of the surrounding infected.
Noonan crawled on his stomach away from the explosion and toward Greg’s location.
“Nice fucking shot, bro,” Noonan said as he stood up.
“That was a pretty stupid plan, Noonan,” Greg said flatly. “You’re lucky those things pounced on Reece.”
“Lucky?” Noonan asked. “That was my plan. Reece was my distraction.”
Greg just looked at Noonan.
“It was him or me,” Noonan explained. “Besides--Reece was pretty fucking useless anyway.”
“If you say so,” Greg said with a shrug. “Let’s get back to the others.”
2
Sub-Level Facility, Schoepke Springs
Spicewood, Texas
“Our extinction?” Wilder asked. “This virus is a cataclysmic world event, and you’re still keeping secrets?”
“You talk about the dangers of secrets, Wilder, bu
t what about your buddy Butsko? You think he told you everything he knew about what was going on? No one had more secrets than Butsko.”
“Don’t you dare bring him into this,” Wilder shot back. “Sure Butsko had secrets, but he was always straight with us when it mattered. His secrets didn’t kill people.”
“Oh, really?” Rickard asked. “So he told you all about this facility and what was contained inside it, right?”
“Absolutely,” Wilder said without hesitation. “He and I put the plan together to come out here because of the EMP bombs. He told me right from the outset what this place was and the weapons this place held.”
“And what about the strange object above us?” Rickard asked. “Did he mention that to you?”
“He didn’t know anything about that thing,” Steele answered as took a few steps forward.
“So you travelled to a facility across eighty miles of zombie-infested lands on the hopes that a top-secret lab buried underground was still accessible?” asked Rickard. Before Wilder could say anything, he continued, “And on the off chance that you made it to Spicewood and were able to get to and enter the facility, you all had no idea if the EMP bombs were still down here or if they even worked. Does that summarize your ‘mission,’ Wilder?”
Wilder stared at the man as he processed what Rickard had just said. Wilder was so sure of the mission to get to the EMP bombs. But now something didn’t seem right, and Wilder tried to find the detail that didn’t fit. He felt like he was looking at a picture with one out of place detail. He knew something was wrong with the picture, but he couldn’t isolate the exact piece.
“What’s your point, Rickard?” Wilder finally asked.
“Seems like a long shot to me,” Rickard said. “There were a lot of ‘what ifs’ in your plan. You seemed to risk everything on assumptions. You assumed you could make it here. You assumed you could get into the lower levels of the facility. You assumed the EMP bombs were here and in working condition.”
“Again: what’s your point?” Wilder asked in a low voice.