Particle Z (Book 1)

by Scott, Tim

  Julian had finished up with Eric and Davis and had watched Mike fumble around for any kind of news. He then leaned in and said, “There is communication gear in the bunker; we will get an accurate picture of how bad it’s gotten soon enough.”

  “We have to get there first, Julian.”

  “True enough, Mike, and we will.”

  Eric and Davis quietly slipped from the room while Mike and Julian were talking. Mike turned his attention to the queen-sized bed and its super-plush mattress. Don’t mind if I do, he thought to himself and walked over to check it out.

  “Go ahead,” Julian called over. “Might as well get all the rest you can.”

  “Think I will, unless someone else wants first dibs?” Mike asked, glancing around the room.

  No one protested so Mike climbed in and quickly nodded off. It was even more comfortable than he had imagined; hotel beds were always the best. If it were not for the angry grunting of the Changed below, Mike would have labeled it heaven.

  He awoke seemingly as soon as he had closed his eyes when a quick rap on the door shattered his rest. Aggeles jumped up, went over to the door, and said something to whomever was on the other side. He must have received a satisfactory response because he quickly opened the door, letting Eric and Davis back in.

  “Status?” Julian asked before the men could even find a place to sit.

  “The floor is clear. I’m sure most of the guests were either out enjoying their vacation or tried to get to their cars when the shit hit the fan. I checked the stairs and looked for access points; we have the floor to ourselves, gentlemen,” Davis said, delivering the first bit of good news since this mission had kicked off.

  “What’s the plan, Julian?” Eric asked.

  “We’ll run a reverse,” he said with a smirk on his face. “We blew our way up so now we will blow our way back down.”

  “What about the noise?” Eric asked, not looking convinced.

  “We locate an entry point then blow another hole back down to the first floor. Once that is secure, we double-time it back here and create a diversion with live bait. After we get them moving back in this direction, we’ll have a small window of opportunity to clear any stragglers and get into the bunker. We can’t blow the floor next to the bunker because of its concrete outer shell, so we’ll drop in from a little further out.”

  Eric, still skeptical, asked, “What if you can’t get the bunker door opened before they return?”

  “Then we go out as strong and proud as Vogel and Haya did, gentlemen.”

  Mike said with a deadpan face, “Just make sure you get the door open. I have someone important counting on me out there.”

  “I’ll see what I can do, Mike. I want in as badly as you and I have more than just one person counting on me.”

  Mike wasn’t sure if he was talking about them or some broader mission he hadn’t felt like sharing yet. He didn’t really care as long as they got Marlee and his friends to safety.

  “Power on,” Mike said as they all cautiously filed out into the hallway.

  Mike closed the door behind him, thankful to put some distance between them and the sound of the Changed’s agitated hunger calling from below. Julian’s plan seemed plausible, and he hoped they would be inside the bunker sooner than later so he could reunite with Marlee, Reid, and Ashley. Mike knew the longer they stayed in one place the likelihood of seeing his friends again diminished.

  CHAPTER 13

  Changed or Dangerous

  Marlee watched as Mike and the others disappeared into the brush. She tried not to show it, but she was scared to death this would be the last time she saw Mike alive and doubted whether or not she would survive in this dangerous new world without him.

  Turning away as Mike’s form faded from sight, she smirked when she noticed Ashley already had one of the young Terra Corp men wrapped around her finger. Ash had always been good at turning men into goo when she wanted to. Her blonde hair and curves, combined with a tight white tee accenting an endowment most women would kill for went a long way toward flipping the idiot switch inside any dude’s brain. Not that it was a long journey for most of them. It looked like Ash had convinced him to move the MRAP up slightly so they could gain access to the second-story roof and bedroom windows.

  “Come on, Marlee,” Ashley called. “Why sweat in that bucket of bolts when we have a perfectly good bedroom just waiting for us.”

  “Because for starters, that bucket of bolts can keep those things out and it has a huge gun attached to it.”

  “Come on, Marlee, we can get back inside the MRAP in no time at all, and Floyd here said he will watch over us.”

  Marlee rolled her eyes. If Floyd’s idea of “watching over us” meant keeping his eyes locked on Ashley’s bouncing assets as she jumped from the MRAP to the roof was any indication of his sentry skills, they were in trouble. She was tired of being cooped up in the MRAP, so it didn’t take much to prod her into checking out the luxury home’s creature comforts. Her mind made up, she jumped from the MRAP to the roof and followed Ashley into the house.

  Once inside, Marlee’s eyes lit up and her shoulders relaxed ever so slightly at the sight of a huge oversized bed and a real bathroom with a mirror. She knew she must be a wreck to look at and was excited about the idea of fixing herself up a bit before seeing Mike again. The contrast between the room she found herself in now and the MRAP was stark, and she wanted to enjoy it as long as possible. Ashley was already heading toward the bedroom door when her new boy toy Floyd followed them through the window.

  “Hold on, ma’am,” Floyd said, his eyes widening as he realized she was headed further into the house.

  Looks like our brave little friend isn’t so brave after all, Marlee thought to herself, smiling inwardly at his obvious desire to impress Ashley now dampened with real fear.

  “What’s wrong Floyd? You afraid some little old Z’s gonna eat ya?” Ashley chided him, laughing at her own joke as she swung the door open and stepped into the hallway.

  “Is she always like this?” Floyd asked Marlee with a trace of exacerbation.

  “Actually, no, she’s usually reserved and cautious, but I think things have gotten to her. Better go keep an eye on her, and I mean all of her.”

  His face turned a deep crimson red as he made a hasty retreat in the direction Ashley had disappeared, now realizing his earlier admiration of Ashley hadn’t gone unnoticed.

  Alone at last, Marlee walked into one of the nicest bathrooms she had ever seen and looked into the mirror. Seeing her eyes as they appeared now almost made her cry. How could Mike look at her and see the same woman he fell in love with?

  She looked like one of those things now.

  Shuddering with revulsion, Marlee wondered how long it would be before she started to crave human flesh, or worse. How long would the others trust her, or how long would she trust herself for that matter. For a minute, she contemplated sneaking off and leaving the group so no harm would come to her friends if she turned. Sliding down to the floor, Marlee started to cry uncontrollably.

  “Ma’am, ma’am, are you okay?” Marlee heard as she drifted back to the present and looked up to see Shrader standing over her with a concerned look on his face. “Is everything okay?”

  “Yes, I’m sorry. It all just got to me. Please give me a couple of minutes.”

  “I’ll go check on the others,” he said, then quietly left her alone.

  She was grateful for the privacy and simply wanted to pull herself together without an audience. Getting back to her feet, she turned on the water, grateful when it actually worked, then proceeded to wash up as best she could considering the circumstances.

  When she was done, she walked toward the door to see what Ashley had gotten herself into. A sudden chill ran up her spine – a premonition so strong it slammed into her like a bolt of lightning. The feeling was so intense that she knew something was wrong. Marlee ran over to the window and looked down at the MRAP. Nothing seemed out of place,
but she knew something was wrong or perhaps she was finally starting to go crazy or worse.

  Heavy footsteps were pounding toward the bedroom, and seconds later Shrader burst through the door as if he had seen the devil itself. He screamed, “Get back in the MRAP NOW!”

  “Where are Ash and Floyd?” she asked, dread cracking her voice.

  Shrader didn’t stop as he passed Marlee, simply grabbing her by the waist and carrying her to the window. Marlee’s question was answered when Ashley stepped through the doorway. Parts of Floyd’s shredded face were hanging from her bloody mouth. She was nude from the waist up, and blood was running down her breasts and stomach, slowly pooling at her feet. In an abstract way, Marlee regretted that such expensive carpet was now ruined. Then she snapped back into the moment.

  Ashley’s face was contorted into a mask of pure hatred. Her eyes now lit with the familiar red tint were glaring at Marlee with an intensity that went far beyond what she had seen from the Changed so far. She opened her mouth and emitted a bone-chilling cry, her gaze never leaving Marlee.

  “STOP,” Marlee commanded Shrader.

  “What? Are you crazy? That bitch will tear us to pieces!”

  “She was my friend, I’ll handle her.”

  Shrader let go of Marlee and jumped through the bedroom window, quickly turning back around and training his rifle on Ashley. He was ready to defend Marlee if or when she lost control of the situation, something he was sure would happen shortly.

  Marlee felt something come alive inside her as she looked at Ashley. She felt more in control of her body, thoughts, and emotions than she had ever felt before. Something had changed inside of her, of that she was now certain. She looked at Ashley with sadness and knew what she had to do.

  Closing her eyes, she calmed herself. She could sense every fiber inside her body, now feeling as if she could reach beyond her own physical encapsulation. Marlee could sense Ashley standing inside the doorway entrance and she could sense the cool calm that was Shrader behind her. Reaching out with tiny parts of herself, she entered Ashley’s mind, a mind consumed with rage, hate, and an overriding need to kill those standing before her. Rational thought was gone now, and the Ashley she had known and loved was gone forever. The violence inside Ashley’s mind almost shocked her back into her physical state, but she stood firm.

  There was nothing she could do for Ashley now except show her friend mercy. Deep inside Ashley’s remaining consciousness, Marlee located a pulsing core from where all the malice and hunger seemed to flow. Marlee wasn’t sure how she did it, but she extinguished that part of Ashley’s mind and her friend dropped to the floor like a rag doll, never to rise again.

  Exhausted and not sure what had just happened, Marlee started to lose consciousness and fell backwards into darkness. She didn’t feel Shrader gently catch her and carry her back to the safety of the MRAP.

  Shrader wasn’t sure what he had just witnessed, but he planned on keeping a close eye on the woman in his arms until someone could figure it out.

  CHAPTER 14

  The Bunker

  The realization that blowing another hole in the floor would be the easy part when compared to herding the Changed away was daunting. This entire operation was proving to be trickier than anticipated. Mike and Eric stood there looking down through the first hole they had opened, or H1, as Julian called it. Turned out the guy was a naming convention geek. Must be some sort of OCD they had never heard of. H2 was now the short name for the new access point closer to the bunker.

  The room was filled with putrid corpses, Haya’s among them, and most were staring up at them, well aware of the livings’ presence just out of their reach. Mike didn’t need a Master’s to know there was no chance of getting back downstairs now. The room was so full of the Changed that Mike decided to try another, more forward method. He pulled thee grenades from his belt and looked sideways at Eric, who raised his eyebrows and then just shrugged his shoulders.

  “Let’s do it,” Mike said, sounding like a school-aged boy about to do something he knew was wrong. “Julian may not like it, but we aren’t in his chain of command and improvisation is the key to success, right?”

  “Whatever you decide works for me,” Eric said, chuckling at Mike’s attempted self-justification.

  “Okay, let’s make some Z-stew,” Mike said as he pulled the pins and tossed all three grenades into the room below. “Now let’s get the fuck outta here!”

  They both took off running back to Julian and Davis, who were waiting near the new access point.

  They were almost back to H2 when they heard the collective blast from the three grenades they hoped would work as bait and draw the Zs away from the bunker entrance below.

  “What did you do?” Julian asked as they ran up to his position.

  Mike answered for them. “The room was overflowing so we tossed a few grenades through H1, hoping it would draw the Zs below away from this area.”

  “Julian, it looks like it may be working. The Zs are moving toward the sound of the blast,” Davis said while peering down through H2, being careful not to be spotted by any of the Changed below. He didn’t want to shift their attention now that they had them moving away.

  “It’s bunker or bust now, fellas,” Julian announced.

  Mike wasn't sure he was too keen on the bust part of that statement, but decided not to say anything about it. Within seconds, they were all on the ground floor and moving toward the back wall of the exposition hall. The Changed had taken the bait and, for now, the vast room they now found themselves in was eerily quiet. Julian headed straight for the far corner of the room. Mike looked around uncomfortably. They were a good distance from where they had dropped down, and he didn’t see any escape routes.

  As they reached the back wall it appeared as though they had hit a dead end. Mike was starting to wonder if Julian knew where the bunker really was.

  “Help me open the panel,” Julian said to no one in particular.

  Eric stepped forward with a quizzical look on his face while Mike ran his eyes across the wall looking for a door. The wall was ornate like the rest of the resort, white with glaring yellow geometric patterns printed from top to bottom. Nothing you would ever think would look attractive to the eye, but in this room it all somehow managed to appear expensive and cultured.

  Julian, with Eric in tow, walked over to the corner. He pushed into the wall with the palm of his hand then moved his hand away. There was an audible click and the entire wall shifted outward slightly. They grabbed the edge and slowly pulled it open. The entire back wall of the exposition hall started to move and pleat, the complexly hinged panels folding back one at a time, revealing a small, industrial-looking area behind what had looked like a solid wall at first glance.

  With most of the panels now open, a massive steel door came into view. Majestic and bold, it reminded Mike of a 1950s-era bank vault door. The bunker’s primary entranceway door was smooth except for a rotating wheel slightly off center to the left, with a small pull handle to assist with opening and closing such a massive slab of steel. Mike was so engrossed with how cleverly the entrance was hidden that he missed the look of alarm cross Eric’s face. It wasn’t until he heard the muffled report of silenced automatic weapon rifle fire that he turned to see what was going on.

  Something had turned the Changed away from the diversion Mike had hoped would provide them with time to get inside the bunker. Not only were they not inside the bunker yet, now they were facing a mob of the Changed, deadly intent twisted into the face of each ghoul. Mike took a quick survey of their options and knew if Julian failed to get the door open in the next few minutes they were dead men or worse.

  “Julian, I think it’s time to get the door open!”

  “The thought crossed my mind, Mike.”

  Julian walked along the door, tracing his hand along it until he was standing next to its massive steel hinges. He was looking for something, but Mike wasn’t able to see what because his attention was ri
pped back to the scourge approaching from behind. Raising his rifle, he joined Eric, Davis, and Aggeles in their attempt to slow down the crowd while Julian worked feverishly to open the bunker door. Mike took shot after shot, sometimes hitting the same Z one of the others had targeted. The bodies were piling up, slowing the shambling assembly ever so slightly. Mike estimated they had about fifty feet before they would be overrun.

  Davis yelled over the pandemonium of weapons fire, “Go for the knees, maybe they’ll trip each other up.”

  They all followed his lead and changed up every other shot. When they went down, the maimed Zs grabbed for anything that brought them closer to their prey. This new tactic caused chaos in their ranks and had the slowing effect Davis had hoped for. Mike took a quick glance back and eyeballed Julian for a second. He had a small panel open now and was intently keying in some sort of code. If the door didn’t open in the next few minutes, they were sure to be joining the ranks of the Changed. It was that thought that had Mike popping off round after round in a reenergized attempt to slow the tide of death agonizingly inching its way toward them.

  With just twenty-five feet separating them from the Changed now, Mike could make out every bite mark and festering laceration suffered before turning. The whites of their eyes were teeming with angry red veins. The smell of urine, feces, and much worse was pungent and hung in the air so thick Mike could taste it.

  “I’m out,” Eric called and pulled his pistol from its holster. He didn’t start firing again; instead, he looked back at Julian then back at the looming death splayed out in front of him.