Particle Z (Book 1)

by Scott, Tim

  Mike knew instinctively why Eric had stopped firing. He was going to save the last few rounds until the Zs were on top of him and the final round fired would be for Eric himself. Mike didn’t blame him, because he had already decided to follow the same path when that time arrived.

  The Changed were not ten feet from them when they heard Julian whoop in excitement and they heard the click of a lock unlatching and the metallic grating of the door’s inner bars sliding open. The sound was unmistakable and music to the ears of the living.

  “Disengage and fall back now,” Julian screamed as he pulled the door open just enough to allow one person at a time access to the bunker.

  Davis and Aggeles let rip one last lethal volley as Mike and Eric slipped inside. The remaining three men quickly followed, and Julian pulled the door shut to the shrill screams of the Changed. Their angry cries sent a shudder down the spine of more than one man. It felt surreal to finally be inside the safety of the Greenbrier bunker. Congressional planners could never have imagined their Cold War retreat would be used one day to take refuge from a horde of molecularly transformed undead and not the nuclear holocaust they had so meticulously calculated for.

  Mike heard shuffling in the pitch black, then a click followed by a laser-white beam from a Maglite cutting through the darkness.

  “This place have power?” Mike asked.

  “It’s completely self-contained. Power, sewer, food, water, communication, and medical supplies. Like I said before, this place was going to house Congress up till the early ‘90s. They never really decommissioned it even though that was the official line,” Julian opined.

  Eric rolled his eyes and smiled. “Hidden in plain sight. Very clever and effective. The Feds get some things right every once in a while, I guess. Now how about that power?”

  “If I recall, the main breaker is around here somewhere,” Julian murmured while whipping the flashlight around. The light honed in on a set of electrical breakers a few feet down what Mike assumed was a tunnel of sorts.

  “Let there be light,” Julian proclaimed as he flipped a breaker up, and one by one, the lights flickered to life, making their slow progression down the center of a long industrial corridor lined with neat rows of exposed piping and conduit. The overhead lighting reflected off a polished concrete floor. Mike was impressed. The bunker must be situated deep underground, because the corridor ran further than he expected. It ran so far, in fact, that he was unable to make out the opposite end.

  A slight movement in the distance caught Mike’s eye. Maybe a rat slinking around looking for a new hole to hide in. This facility would provide a good place for their group to catch up on some sleep and plan their next move without fear of the Changed at every turn, as long they were the only ones who had managed to find their way inside.

  As if reading his thoughts, Davis cleared his throat before speaking. “We need to be careful until we know for certain we’re alone.”

  “Roger that, brother. We made it this far and now it’s time to focus on getting the rest of our people safely inside,” Eric said, reminding everyone of the fact they had others outside that might find themselves in mortal danger if a large cluster of Changed ran across their position. MRAP or no MRAP, time was of the essence.

  Alert for anything that might pose a threat, they traversed the length of the corridor and found yet another blast-proof steel door. Mike was sure they had walked at least a half-mile to get to this door. In an attempt to look at things on the brighter side, he took comfort in the fact that the movement he had seen earlier was most likely just a flickering lightbulb. Julian quickly moved to a small access panel and keyed in another code from a small notebook he pulled from a sleeve pocket. This time there was no sound of a lock unlatching. He walked over and pulled on the handle. The huge door must have been perfectly balanced, as a simple tug had it swinging silently open, revealing a well-lit room that appeared to be the in-processing station for staff and dignitaries arriving at the bunker.

  “Just past this door is a medical clinic, followed by the power plant and a small communication room. The living quarters and assembly areas are downstairs on the lower level. Each area can be secured from one another, so once cleared we don’t need to be concerned with any surprises from behind. A tunnel leads from the power plant to the surface that exits to the hills just north of the Resort. That’s where Shrader will need to meet us,” Julian explained.

  “Have you radioed them? Are they okay?” Mike asked.

  “Our communication gear doesn’t work down here. The walls were built to withstand an indirect nuclear blast, so our handheld gear doesn’t stand a chance. The equipment kept in the bunker will be able to get through to them. It’s connected to relays and antennas hidden topside and hardened to withstand most conventional weapons and even an EMP.”

  Mike nodded. “Let’s clear the next few rooms and get them inside as soon as possible. I don’t like knowing they’re sitting ducks up there.”

  “One of my best men is watching over them, Mike,” Julian said, trying to reassure him.

  Davis approached the next door and tried the latch and handle; it also effortlessly swung open without a sound. Mike had to tip his hat off to the people that maintained the place; considering the construction dated back to the late 1950s, everything still worked like new.

  Just as Julian had described, a spacious medical clinic was in the next set of rooms, complete with beds, cabinets full of basic first aid materials, and a separate room that must have been a surgical suite. They carefully checked every corner of the room, declared it Z-free, and continued on to the next room housing the power plant.

  “I don’t hear any equipment running,” Mike said in a low whisper.

  “The generators cycle on at set intervals to make sure they stay operational. The bunker is powered from the town’s power grid until the power supply is interrupted,” Julian explained.

  This made sense to Mike; they would be able to conserve their fuel stores until it became necessary to use the bunker’s power generation system, perhaps significantly extending the facility’s operational capability before they would need to head back outside to face unknown conditions. This facility was exceptionally well-thought-out. It was a shame they would need to move on in search of help for Marlee. Mike couldn’t think of a place better suited to keep them safe from the Changed.

  “Davis, take Aggeles and secure the communication room, then radio Shrader with the coordinates for the entrance.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  While the two men set out to execute Julian’s order, Mike and Eric poked around the power plant looking for the tunnel. Not surprisingly, they were unable to locate it. Everything was well-hidden. Necessary precautions, Mike assumed.

  “Looking for this?” Julian asked, standing in front of a door marked “Danger – High Voltage.”

  “Of course, I should have known. The most obvious place to hide something is in plain sight.” Eric laughed at the cleverness of it all.

  Julian swung the door open, revealing a small, closet-sized space. He walked in and opened another well-concealed door located in the back of the closet and this time a set of stairs leading upward could be seen.

  Gesturing at Mike, Julian said, “Go see if they got in touch with Shrader.”

  Before he could even take a step, Davis walked back in and said, “I spoke with Shrader and he thinks they can make the rendezvous point within ten minutes. He also said they’ve lost some people, Julian.”

  Mike felt his blood run cold and could barely get the word out. “… Marlee?”

  “He said we lost Ashley and Floyd. Shrader didn’t have all the details on how it happened, but they are both confirmed deceased. Said the odd thing was Marlee stopped Ashley without putting a finger on her and that freaked everyone out almost as much as the Changed did.”

  “What, how would she stop someone without touching them?” Mike stammered, still too shocked to comprehend Ashley’s violent passing.


  Julian stood silent with a pensive look on his face. “She’s starting to exhibit new characteristics from her Change. Maybe she’s starting to understand what those changes mean.”

  “I thought you said she was latent?” Mike said, fear and anger in his voice.

  “I did, and now her Change is apparently no longer taking a backseat to the old Marlee. She’s started to cross over, but that doesn’t mean she’ll turn into what we’ve seen roaming the streets, Mike. We need to get to a research lab and determine what Marlee’s condition means and if she is the key to our salvation. She’s not like the others.”

  “I think you need to explain to us what exactly you need to do with her at a research lab, Julian.”

  “I can promise you that no harm will come to her. She will need to decide how much of a role she plays in any possible cure, and she may only be a slightly modified version of her former self and hold no cure value at all. Humanity is on the brink of extinction, and we are talking about salvaging what is left and safeguarding what humanity we can. Think of it as protecting a seed that future generations will grow from … if we are lucky. This is bigger than you or Marlee, or me.”

  Mike thought about Julian said and simply replied, “Let’s go up and get our people.”

  “That sounds like a plan.”

  They filed into the small room and started up the stairs. The tunnel was cramped and would only allow them to ascend single file. It was obvious this exit had never been intended for mass evacuation. After five minutes of steep climbing they came to yet another door.

  The budget for this place must be huge, Mike thought as they opened the newest door that led into a larger, albeit still not spacious area with what he hoped was the last door between them and open air.

  “Get ready, we need to make this quick and fast,” Julian cautioned.

  Without another word, they cracked the door open and filed out, expecting and ready for the worst. Luckily the area they now found themselves standing in was isolated and some distance from the main resort grounds.

  “Get Shrader on the radio and get me an ETA now, Davis,” Julian barked when the MRAP was nowhere in sight. Mike thought he heard the whine of a motor laboring off in the distance, but it was hard to be sure with the sound bouncing off the hilltops surrounding them.

  Davis spoke intently into the radio for a minute before turning back toward Julian. “He said the hills and trees are slowing them down and they have a shit load of Changed hot on their heels. I think we better be ready to get back inside when they get here.”

  Minutes later the whine of the MRAP’s turbo diesel became clearly audible and Mike caught a glimpse of the war machine climbing the hill behind the tunnel’s entrance. Hundreds of Changed spread out behind the MRAP trying to keep pace with the slow-moving machine. Mike assumed the MRAP’s heavy gun was silent because there were just too many to make a realistic dent in the crowd. These people were smart as well as professional.

  Mike spotted Garcia topside in the gun turret. When Garcia saw Mike’s group waving at him he ducked down inside the MRAP. Mike assumed he was getting everyone ready to unload. The huge vehicle came to a sliding stop just feet from where Mike and Eric were standing, and seconds later they heard the rear door drop. At that moment a roar ripped through the valley momentarily deafening everyone.

  Someone must have climbed back into the turret because the heavy guns were firing with a frenzied violence causing Mike to stare up in amazement. Only for a moment though, as the Changed started to round the corner of the MRAP and come directly for him. These things were fucking persistent. Mike would give them that.

  Marlee and Reid came barreling around from the rear of the MRAP just in front of the Changed and Mike forgot everything else in that moment. Marlee looked tired and scared, and Reid wasn’t looking much better. Garcia burst into sight then, mowing down the Changed with his assault rifle. He was a good shot and quickly dropped the slugs pursuing Marlee and Reid.

  The heavy guns went silent as Shrader changed gears and jumped down from the turret, hitting the ground with a roll then back on his feet in seconds. At the same time Marlee ran up to Mike and fell into his open arms.

  “I slowed them down, but if we don’t get inside now we’ll get overrun,” Shrader gasped.

  Mike didn’t doubt that for a moment because the noise coming from the other side of the MRAP was reaching a fevered pitch along with the wafting scent of decaying flesh. They hurried back to the tunnel entrance, wishing there would have been enough time to unload the MRAP before heading back underground. Maybe later, Mike thought.

  Once inside with the door lock triple-checked each of them sank to the ground to wearily catch their breath. Mike was cradling Marlee in his arms with Eric slumped down next to them. Mike didn’t want to discuss Ashley’s loss or question Marlee about how she had stopped Ashley at the moment, so he just held her tight while they rested. He knew that conversation would best be had after everyone was rested and felt secure. She looked up at him with a smile and the red glow deep in her eyes caused an involuntary chill to run down Mike’s spine. He wanted so badly for his Marlee to be okay.

  CHAPTER 15

  New Developments

  By the time they made their way back down the long flight of stairs and into the bunker’s medical center, everyone was exhausted. Mike commandeered a couple of bunks in one corner of the room away from everyone else. He gently led Marlee to a bunk, made sure she was comfortably settled in, and decided it was time to get some rest himself. Mike knew if they went too long without sleep mistakes would start to happen, and the world they now found themselves in had no provision for error. Soon the hum of the generator and the relative peace of the bunker’s protective concrete walls lulled Mike into a much-needed sleep.

  Other than Julian, who was busy tinkering with the equipment in the communication room, everyone had crashed. Too much running, fighting, and death had taken its toll; even the hired guns were using the down-time to rest their weary bodies.

  When Mike woke back up he waited a few minutes before opening his eyes to enjoy the low murmur of conversation going on in the room. It brought him back to his childhood when his grandmother would drive up for an early morning weekend visit and he would wake up to the muffled sounds of his mom and grandmother talking to each other. He was glad they had both moved on from this world. The thought of either of them enduring the horror he had witnessed over the last few days was unthinkable.

  “Hon?” Marlee whispered, “are you awake?”

  Mike was convinced Marlee possessed a sixth sense because she always knew when he was awake, even when he was pretending not to be. He decided it was pointless to pretend any longer, so he propped himself up on one elbow and opened his eyes. The face of the most beautiful women he had ever set eyes on greeted him. She was giving him the “you’ve been sleeping for too long” look.

  “How long was I out?” he asked.

  “Close to ten hours.”

  “Damn, I must’ve been tired. What’s everyone been up to?” Mike asked, seeing a couple of blanketed forms sleeping still.

  Ashley’s loss came crashing back into his consciousness then and he felt the cold grip of despair clutching at his heart. Marlee noticed the expression on his face, leaned in and held him tight.

  “How are you feeling?” Mike choked out.

  “What you really want to ask me is if there is anything funny going on with me after what happened with Ashley.”

  “No, I just want to know how you’re feeling. We can talk about that when you’re ready.” Mike didn’t know if he himself was ready for that conversation.

  “That’s sweet of you, baby, but I actually feel pretty good, like I’ve found my center again. I can even feel things going on inside my body and I think if I were to concentrate hard enough I might even be able to sense what others are feeling. I’m afraid to try though. After what happened to Ashley I don’t want to hurt anyone.”

  “What did happen back
there with Ashley?”

  “It was all so unexpected and then she was standing there with that poor boy’s face hanging from her mouth. I felt the waves of violence pouring off her. All she wanted was to feed and kill anything living. It was so intense and I somehow followed her rage and anger back to its core and extinguished it. I don’t really understand how I did it yet, but Julian said he may be able figure it out.”

  “Julian seems to have his act together but we need to be cautious; we don’t know what his true objectives are yet and I’m not taking any chances with you. Speaking of Julian, what’s he up to?”

  “He’s been …”

  As if on cue, Julian’s voice drifted into them from the COMM room. “I’ve got some television news feeds going and it looks worse than I thought out there.”

  They were up in an instant and rushing into the adjoining room. It was filled to capacity within seconds, everyone wanting to see what was going on outside. Mike looked at the monitors everyone was transfixed by, and what he saw were grainy images of chaos.

  He wasn’t sure where the images were originating from but it appeared that civil unrest was the rule not the exception. Image after image of cities burning and crowds of people ripped into by those recently turned were everywhere. It was more than his mind could handle and he was forced to look away. With his eyes averted, he saw the tears openly flowing down the faces of the others.

  They all have family somewhere, Mike thought sadly.

  “Where are those images from?” someone asked.

  “Everywhere,” came Julian’s low, measured reply. “Everywhere.”

  “What do we do now?” Mike asked, knowing everyone was having the same thought.

  “We need to regroup, reassess, and find a way to get Marlee somewhere we can research her change further. If she can look into their minds and extinguish the very thought that makes the Changed the way they are, maybe she holds the key to a cure or vaccine of sorts. We need to see if she can heal them or at a minimum remove their desire to attack the living. It’s imperative we understand their science if we are to have any chance at salvaging humanity. If not, I fear the remainder of the world’s population will be hunted until there is little or no civilization left on this planet of ours.”