“I was thinking the exact same thing,” she murmured. “The last thing I want to do is sit around with my dark thoughts and vivid imagination while you're gone. Plus the sooner the batches are ready, the sooner we can start returning things back to normal.”
I was glad to hear that she didn't plan on fighting me about leaving anymore. I also felt happy to know that if something were to happen to me she'd be safe in Xanadu, surrounded by people who would protect her at all costs. Apache was right. They could survive indefinitely inside their hidden paradise as long as no one found the way in. That meant that even if Moto and I failed there was still a shot at ending the zombie apocalypse once and for all. More than a shot, actually. We had an evolving plan with smart, good-hearted people at the center of it.
“I love you, Felicity Jane,” I whispered.
“I love you too,” she replied.
We sat in comfortable silence enjoying the moment of peace and safety and never wanting it to end. I drifted off to sleep at the sound of my wife's gentle snores.
Apache came and woke us bright and early, as promised. He guided us over to the bathing area near the waterfall where naked children ran in and out of the pool, splashing and laughing. We bathed in our underwear beneath the cresting waterfall, the sheer force of the water cleaning away grime and filth that had been caked on for days. If I've ever felt as clean, I don't remember it.
Breakfast consisted of an apple and a hot bowl of grain cereal with honey. It was delicious. We both ate quickly, trying not to think about what was coming next. Sam had come back by then, and was full of stories about what he'd seen in his absence. He spoke excitedly about secret caves and hiding spaces in the rocks, mountain trails leading to the top that zigzagged precariously along the walls of Xanadu, and a butterfly garden out past the Iboga patch where all you had to do is lie down in the soft, rich soil and wait for them to cover your unmoving body.
After less than an hour, Apache signaled that it was time for us to get going. I stood up and told Sam goodbye, reminding him to take care of Felicity and the others while I was gone. He assured me that he would do his best, saluting me, which made me laugh. At the last minute, Sam threw his arms around my waist and hugged me tight.
“Come back in one piece,” he begged.
“I will, Sam,” I said, feeling caught off guard by his sudden display of emotion. “I promise.”
Apache walked us out to the cave passage. Felicity and I held hands as we made our way through and out into the sparkling daylight. Outside Moto waited with Sonya, holding hands and laughing. It was good to see they'd worked out their issues as well. More than anything I wanted my brother to be happy, just as I was with Felicity.
“This is where we say goodbye for now,” Apache announced. “Moto will take you back to where his Humvee is hidden, and from there you should be able to easily reach the base again.”
“Thanks,” I said. “For everything.”
“You are welcome,” Apache said warmly. “I know for certain that you have the heart of a brave warrior. I've seen it, Xander, every single time we've met. You brother has it too. It's in your blood. You will be fine. Trust your heart. It will never lie to you.”
I didn't know what to say so I just stood there with my mouth open, nodding my head. Apache laughed and slapped me on the back to break the spell. Sonya came running over and pulled me into a tight hug. I expected Felicity to blow a gasket, but instead she began to softly cry.
“Take good care of each other,” Sonya said. “And don't forget, we'll be waiting back here for word from you. Don't leave us hanging.”
“We won't,” I promised, knowing well that we might not have a choice in the matter if things went wrong.
Sonya released me. Now it was Felicity's turn. She took both my hands in hers and stared deeply into my eyes.
“Come back safe to me,” Felicity bade me.
“I will, my love,” I said.
“You'd better,” she demanded. “Otherwise I will chase you into the afterlife and kick your butt!”
Moto fought back a laugh. I leaned over and gave Felicity a long kiss, hoping it wouldn't be my last.
“Come on, lover boy,” Moto teased. “We gotta hit the road.”
Felicity let go of my hands and walked over to Sonya, who immediately wrapped her arms around her. Moto playfully punched me in the shoulder. He turned and set off into the woods. I followed him, doing my best to fight off the urge to look back, because I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that Felicity would still be standing there watching me go, perhaps even long after I was gone, and that it would only make things harder.
CHAPTER SIX
Within minutes we were deep into a thicket of trees, lost in another world of shadows and strangely indiscernible animal sounds as unseen critters scampered through the underbrush. It was eerie how quiet it was otherwise, how quickly we'd gone from one world into the next. Xanadu had a pleasant buzz to it – kids playing, adults working, women singing, a waterfall distantly churning – all of the sounds mixing together at once to make a steady heartbeat of a thriving organism. Out in the default world there was something far more sinister at work and I could feel it creeping in, like a chill that goes all the way to the bone.
It's all in your head, I thought. Don't let it get to you. Don't freak yourself out over nothing. Just keep your wits about you, and keep moving.
I thought about freshman English class and my teacher, Ms. Chupek, telling us about Persephone going between Earth and Hades. Weren't we doing the same thing? Leaving a paradise of sorts to return to a war-torn hellscape full of demons, some undead, and some disguised as living beings?
We didn't talk while we were in the woods. Moto stayed ahead of me a fair distance, following the mental map he'd created, heading back to where he'd left the vehicle. Eventually we emerged into a field of sunflowers in full bloom. Just past that we stumbled onto the Humvee, right where he'd left it. Despite being in too big of a hurry to make an effort to cover it, the vehicle showed no signs of being discovered. It started up right away and we pulled back out through the dirt path and onto the gravel covered farm road. Moto had a radio unit in the car that he turned on, hoping to pick up word that would tell him what was going on back at the base, but the only sound coming out of it was static.
We rode in silence for a while without seeing any signs of life. After a long time a bald, paunchy, middle-aged man in dirty overalls wandered out of the row of trees in the sprawling orchards. His eyes were completely white, as if they were covered by milky scabs. He had no shoes and his cracked feet were caked in mud. His exposed arms were notched with cuts and scrapes, freely bleeding pus. He was continually being driven on by mindless hunger. There was an open wound on the side of his neck that looked like a bite mark made by a ring of human teeth. Moto took great care to maneuver around the lunging zombie as the zom hobbled toward the front of the Humvee. He let out a sad wail of pure misery as we slid around him, the tires losing traction on the crunching gravel for a moment before Moto steered them in the direction of our skid, and calmly put us back in the middle of the road. I turned and looked behind me for a brief moment, watching the man begin to stumble in our direction, but he quickly disappeared into the cloud of dust we were spitting out.
I hate seeing how much they are suffering, I thought. It hurts me deep down inside...it hurts too much...it makes me want to turn away…and if I don’t, I feel I might just go crazy!
Even though I'd been turned back from the undead, and so had my brother, I'd continued to see the zombies as a threat to our safety and survival. I felt a hatred for what they could do, how quickly they could rob you of everything important in life. I guess I just thought that since the idea of returning everyone back to normal was a far-fetched fantasy, I began to see them not as people, but as the enemy once more. I'd slipped right back into the kind of thinking I had before I was bitten and brought back.
I never allowed myself to see them as people, I realized, guilt cra
shing over me and making my stomach turn. I was too scared of what it might mean to feel compassion for them.
Now that I knew there was a chance to help them, suddenly they didn't look the same to me. Instead of the normal revulsion I'd felt at running across a walking corpse with tattered clothes and peeling skin, I now felt overwhelming compassion for their plight, along with a heart-piercing sense of moral outrage that someone had done this to them, to us, to the whole world. I could no longer hide behind my rationalizations. It cut me to the core when I looked at the hungry zombie, seeing only the agonizing pain behind his mindless eyes.
“They don't look the same anymore,” Moto said thoughtfully, reading the look on my face like I was an open book. “Do they?”
“No, man,” I wholeheartedly agreed, trying to fight back an unexpected wave of tears.
I turned to look at Moto as he drove.
“Do you really think we can pull this off?” I asked. “Do you think it's possible to end all of this, and make things like they were before?”
“I'm not sure things will ever be like they were before. But yeah, I believe if enough people decide to pitch in and work together, we can put an end to the worst plague the human race has ever seen. It's part of the human spirit, the will to survive, to adapt and change and go on. It's how we came to be at the top of the food chain in the first place, if you'll pardon the bad pun.”
“Har har,” I laughed sarcastically. He smiled.
I stared at him for a moment without saying a word.
“Something on your mind?” he quizzed me.
“I've asked you before about how you were turned,” I said, turning away and staring out the window. “And all you ever say is that you don't want to talk about it, or that it's not the right time. You're always too busy to get into it.”
“Guess I'm out of excuses now, huh?” Moto chuckled.
I turned back and glared at him.
“Why don't you want to talk about it? Why won't you tell me what happened?”
“It was stupid,” he said, looking embarrassed. “That's why. I made a dumb mistake and I nearly paid the ultimate price for it.”
“So tell me about,” I pushed. “I think I have a right to know...as your brother.”
“We were doing supply runs,” Moto sighed, looking deflated. “I had three guys with me in the Humvee. We were going store to store in a strip mall, knocking down walls and scavenging for useful supplies.”
“You mean like medicine or bullets?”
“Yeah,” he said quickly, “or water or canned goods. You know, anything that might come in handy. We were just off the freeway in Camarillo.”
“And you got attacked by zombies?” I asked.
“Not exactly,” he stopped me. “At least not at first anyway. We'd been going door to door for a little less than an hour, finding very little, to be honest. The day was kinda hot. The guys were goofing around. They'd peeled down to essentials at that point, just shirts and pants. They put down their weapons. We found a bottle of Johnny Walker Blue Label in the dry cleaner’s office, and began passing it around. I didn't want to come off as a hard boss, so I just let it slide. We thought we were out there all alone.”
“So what happened?”
“I went out behind the buildings,” Moto’s eyes darted back and forth as he spoke. “There were dirt fields back there, overgrown with weeds. I had to relieve myself, and wanted to do it in private. I started going and I looked up at the warm sun and the next thing I knew something bit my calf just above the boot. I looked down in shock to see a scraggly-looking man gnawing into my leg. He had no eyelids and he just stared up at me, snarling the whole time. I can still see him when I close my eyes at night.”
“Was he a crawler?” I asked.
“Yeah,” Moto said. “You could call him that. His pants were empty below the knees, as if someone had chewed off his calves and now he wanted revenge. He was one of the migrant farm workers who used to pick the vegetables. He'd crawled right out of the weeds and taken a chunk out of me, all because I closed my eyes for a minute. I was so angry, I couldn't see straight. I beat him with the butt of my gun until I cracked his skull and he stopped squirming.”
“So why couldn't you tell me?” I asked.
“Because I was embarrassed,” Moto shouted. “I still am. I let my guard down, and because of that I almost died. If it hadn't been for my men taking me right back to the base, I would have died for sure. I begged them to just shoot me right then and there. Instead, they took me back to General Conrad. He had sample batches at the lab, stuff that Franco had sent over. They were waiting for something like this to happen. The General told me I was doing a great service to my country by volunteering to be a test subject. I didn't see that I had much choice. To be honest, I didn't think it would work. There are times I am still surprised that it did.”
“Well, I'm glad it did,” I laughed. “I'm guessing that if you weren't bitten first, I wouldn't have ever been turned back either. You're a high-ranking officer. At the time, I was just your lost kid brother. They wouldn't have wanted to waste it on me.”
“Probably not,” Moto agreed. “But don't you see what it cost us? It was because I let them turn me back that the General allowed Franco and his men to set up on base. And that ended up costing him his life. All of this is my fault. If I hadn't been slacking off I wouldn't have gotten bit, and if I'd never gotten bit in the first place Franco wouldn't be in the position he is right now.”
“That's nonsense,” I said without hesitation. “Franco would have found a way. It was always part of his plan. Guys like him don't just give up and go away. From what Sonya said, he probably would have brought his own zombie and infected the General himself.”
“I guess we'll never know now,” Moto said, not sounding any better about his role in our current state of affairs.
“What about Franco?” I asked. “How do you think that's gonna play out?”
I felt the fear rising up in my stomach like a tickle, but fought to stay in control of it.
“That's harder to guess,” Moto admitted. “Like you said, guys like Franco don't ever just go away quietly on their own. They only get worse with time. One thing we can be sure of, he's not going to just confess and surrender. Franco isn't interested in what's best for everyone. He only cares at this point about getting his way. Once he got a taste of power, he was instantly addicted. I believe he'll do anything to keep from losing it again.”
“In other words, he's not gonna go gently into that good night as the saying goes,” I said, summing up Moto's point.
“Let's just put it this way,” Moto laughed. “He's not going anywhere without a fight. Something tells me the only way to get rid of a guy like Franco for good is to kill him dead.”
I let his words sink in. I'd known since he'd told us back in Xanadu that nothing short of a battle to the death was going to remove Franco, but it was different now that we were on our way. As we drew closer to the base the radio came back to life.
“Code C. I repeat Code C. ABO,” a voice warned before the radio went dead silent again.
“What's that mean?” I asked
“I can tell you,” Moto cautioned, “but you're not gonna like it.”
“That doesn't mean I don't need to hear it,” I protested.
“I know,” Moto relented. “I was hoping it wouldn't come to this. Code C means Franco has initiated a military coup. I'm not sure how, but he's managed to get enough Blackshirts on his side to keep the rest of the men in line. I knew he was working on it, I just didn't think it would happen so fast.”
“How did you know?” I asked.
“I've got a man on the inside close to Franco that he doesn't know about,” Moto said.
“You mean like a double agent?”
“Something like that,” Moto shrugged. “If my spy wasn't able to see this coming it must be some kind of new development.”
“Does this mean that we turn back?”
“Negat
ive,” Moto snapped. “We've got a mission either way. The ladies might not understand that, but I'm sure you do. You see, Xander, some things are worth risking your life over. Some things are worth protecting. Hell, some things are even worth dying for.”
“You don't have to tell me,” I protested. “I'm the one who's married, remember?”
“Exactly. If you had seen what is in that lab, you'd know we've got to do everything in our power to stop him now, that we can't wait and let it get any worse.”
“Sonya told us all about it last night,” I countered. “Before you two went storming off to fight.”
“She told you some of what she saw,” Moto corrected me. “She left out a lot. I think she wanted to spare Sam from the worst of it.”
“Like what?”
“Do you remember how she talked about him experimenting on them? It wasn't just for fun. He has something specific in mind.”
“What is it?”
“He wants to turn them into something worse than zombies,” Moto explained.
“What does that mean? What's worse than zombies?”
“He's not just trying to synthesize an antidote,” Moto said. “He wants to make super soldiers incapable of feeling fear or pain.”
I shook my head, fighting off the eerie chill his words had sent down my spine.
“That's not possible,” I faintly replied, hoping I was right. “Is it?”
“I'm not sure,” Moto said grimly. “You see it comes from a virus, and all viruses mutate. I think he believes Dr. Winterbourne will be able to help him create a new strain that leaves its victims open to suggestion. Franco wants to program them to respond only to him.”
“So no one will be able to resist his demands,” I gulped.
“Exactly,” Moto agreed. “He'll be able to take over the whole world without ever even getting his hands dirty. We think he's been working on this for a long time, long before Z Day, that it's what he was really doing for the government. Only it didn't produce much in the way of results. Most of the people he's experimented on have died horrific deaths, as the testing distorted their minds and bodies.”
Zombie Attack! Army of the Dead (Book 3) Page 8