Stone Soldiers 6: Armageddon Z

by C. E. Martin

  "Damn it's cold in here!" she exclaimed when Jimmy set her down on the edge of the pool. She looked Kenji up and down suspiciously as he tried to avert his gaze.

  "How long was I out?" the redhead demanded.

  Josie stepped to a nearby table and scooped up a large bath towel. She handed it to the redhead. "Two months, Laura."

  What?" Laura said in surprise. She began drying her hair out, the werewolf watching her intently.

  "Jimmy!" Josie snapped, pointing her finger the other way.

  Jimmy shrugged and turned away.

  Laura now began drying her body off, without even the slightest hint of modesty. "Two months? What the hell? I die saving the world and you guys just left me in a jar?"

  "A bag, actually," Josie said. She picked up a medical coat and held it out while the redhead finished drying herself off.

  "Where's Mark?"

  Josie frowned. "There's not a lot of time to explain, Doc. But we need to evacuate the building."

  Laura shrugged and took the labcoat and slipped it on. "Who's the new guy?"

  "Kenji Nakayama," Kenji said, looking up and extending his hand. His eyes dropped to Laura's still exposed breasts and he blushed.

  "Where is everyone?" Laura said, struggling with the labcoat. It was several sizes too small, but she finally managed to fasten it shut in front. "And what's with giving me Pam-sized stuff?"

  "How do you feel?" Josie asked, regarding Laura suspiciously.

  Laura looked back and forth between Josie and Jimmy, then smiled. "What? You thought I was going to eat you? C'mon, I-"

  The redhead stopped talking suddenly, a weird look crossing her face. She reached up to her mouth and felt at her teeth. She held a hand out and looked at the back of it, then at her fingernails.

  "Holy shit! I'm cured!"

  Jimmy rapidly shrank back to human form as Kenji looked on, utterly and totally bewildered. "I don't understand..."

  A mechanical voice sounded from speakers around the room. "ATTENTION STAFF, THIRTY MINUTES REMAIN UNTIL THE FINAL EVACUATION TRANSPORT. ALL PERSONNEL PLEASE REPORT TO THE ROOF."

  "C'mon," Josie said to Laura. "I'll explain on the way."

  ***

  The long hallway from the Fountain of Youth Chamber took them to a large freight elevator that they all boarded.

  "Zombies? You're kidding, right?" Laura said as the elevator ascended. Josie had been trying to bring her up to speed as they walked.

  "Zombie apocalypse—I swear," Josie said. "We've lost the continent."

  "In two months? Guess you should have de-iced me sooner."

  "I'm sorry," Kenji said, interrupting. "You were dust? She poured you into the Fountain of Youth?"

  "It's not a big deal," Jimmy said. "I've died twice."

  Kenji looked at Josie.

  "Not me," the young girl said.

  "That's debatable," Laura said. "Don't forget Mexico."

  "Hold on," Kenji said, raising his hands. "He's a werewolf, Colonel Kenslir is some kind of immortal super soldier, Josie can freeze things with her mind, and there's four guys running around made of living stone."

  "Forty-three guys," Jimmy corrected.

  "What?" Laura asked, surprised.

  "We had to make some reinforcements."

  "You can make more stone soldiers, but you left the vampire to rot in a Ziploc?"

  "You're a vampire?" Kenji asked.

  "Washington was worried about bringing you back," Josie said.

  "I was a vampire," Laura said to Kenji. "I'm cured now."

  She turned back to Josie. "Then why'd you bring me back now?"

  "Colonel said to. We need all hands on deck."

  Laura smirked. "He missed me, didn't he?"

  "You're a vampire," Kenji said, shocked. The black office building in Miami just couldn't get any weirder.

  The elevator finally came to a stop at the tenth floor and the doors opened. Josie glanced at a piece of paper in her hand and waved for everyone to follow her. "C'mon—we have to go get someone."

  Laura and Jimmy walked out behind Josie, looking around. Jimmy reached back and grabbed the still-shocked Kenji by the shirt and pulled him from the elevator.

  "I thought this floor was off limits," Laura said as they walked through a small, lounge-like room. It was lined with chairs and vending machines, with several TVs hanging on the wall.

  Kenji noticed a layer of dust on everything.

  "Colonel said someone was here we needed to get after we picked up Mr. Nakayama and you."

  They came to a large set of double doors. Electronic bolts could be heard clicking into place when Josie reached for the door. She jumped back reflexively, then blushed in embarrassment.

  "I think they were unlocking," Laura said, pushing one door open.

  Beyond the double doors was a very large room, filled with scores of odd, hexagonal machines, sitting upright, almost the size of vending machines. An electrical hum filled the air, coming from the machines.

  "Those are supercomputers!" Kenji said, stepping around Laura and Josie. He recognized them from college. Very old supercomputers. And there were at least a hundred of them.

  Kenji approached one computer and looked at it closely. He could see that the ports on the computer weren't what they were supposed to be. They were modern—replaced at some time in the very recent past. The legion of seemingly old systems had been updated.

  "Hello?" Josie called out. "Max?"

  A single door in the middle of the room, along what Josie knew was the eastern wall, slid open. Red light was visible in the room beyond.

  Laura looked over to Jimmy. "This floor is freezing."

  Jimmy looked down at Laura's bare feet, then his own. "I'm used to it."

  The group walked slowly toward the open door.

  "Max? There's an evacuation order. The Colonel said we needed to come get you."

  When they reached the doorway, they all four pressed together, trying to see inside.

  The room was small, barely twelve feet by twelve feet. The walls were lined with monitors and panels covered with blinking lights. A countertop circled the room, covering three walls. Two chairs sat empty in the room, with multiple keyboards, microphones and control panels made into the counter. It looked like the control room for a powerplant.

  Kenji recognized a great deal of equipment—most of it was more than thirty years old. "What is this?"

  "HELLO, MISS WINTERS," a smooth, barely mechanical voice said. It was both friendly and inhuman at the same time.

  Josie looked at Laura, who shrugged and made a beats-me face.

  "MR. Nakayama, PLEASE COME INSIDE."

  Kenji realized he had been wrong—this building had just gotten a lot stranger. "I'm fine out here, thanks. Where are you?"

  "Who are you?" Laura asked, stepping back and looking around the computer room and its many towers.

  "MY NAME IS MAX. I AM AN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE NETWORK, MONITORING DATA AS PART OF THE NSA'S DOMESTIC INTELLIGENCE PROGRAM."

  "A computer?" Jimmy said, finally catching on. "We're supposed to evacuate a computer?"

  "NO, MR. KANE. I CANNOT BE MOVED. I AM PART OF THIS BUILDING. COLONEL KENSLIR MERELY WANTED MR. NAKAYAMA TO SEE ME. FOR HIS NEXT LIFE."

  "My next life?" Kenji said, surprised.

  "ACTING ON YOUR INFORMATION WAS NOT SUFFICIENT TO STOP OUR ENEMY," Max explained. "THEY MERELY MOVED THEIR ATTACK TO ELSEWHERE IN THE COUNTRY. WE HAVE LOST."

  "What are we supposed to do?" Josie demanded. It sounded like her grandfather was giving up.

  "COLONEL KENSLIR WISHES FOR MR. NAKAYAMA TO TERMINATE HIS VISION AND RETURN TO THE PAST. THE REST OF YOU ARE TO PROCEED WITH EVACUATION."

  "Return to the past?" Laura said, looking at Kenji skeptically. "First zombies, then a talking building, now you're telling me this guy is a time traveler. Pardon me for asking but just what the f-"

  "PLEASE, MR. NAKAYAMA. TERMINATE THIS VISION AND RETURN TO YOUR OWN TIME. WHEN YOU ATTEMPT TO REACH THE
COLONEL AGAIN, TELL HIM THAT I TOLD YOU TO CALL. DESCRIBE THIS CONTROL ROOM IN DETAIL AND ASK TO MEET HIM OUTSIDE OF ST. LOUIS. YOU WILL THEN BRIEF HIM ON THE GREENGEAR WAREHOUSE NORTHEAST OF THE CONVENTION CENTER. IT IS THE STAGING AREA FOR THE CANNISTERS THAT WILL BE PLACED IN THE DOME PRIOR TO SUNDAY'S FOOTBALL GAME.

  "I PREDICT A NINETY-FIVE PERCENT PROBABILITY THAT BY RAIDING THE WAREHOUSE ALONE, ON SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 23RD, THE COLONEL WILL SUCCEED IN ELIMINATING THE PERPETRATORS OF THIS OUTBREAK BEFORE THEY CAN SHIFT THEIR PLANS TO AN ALTERNATE TARGET."

  "Time travel? Really? Does he use a blue phone booth and crappy special effects?" Laura demanded.

  "Hey! I like that show!" Jimmy said indignantly.

  "I can't!" Kenji said. "I was drugged too long. I can't control my power! I'm stuck here!"

  There was silence only for a second as the artificial network considered.

  "THEN YOU WILL HAVE TO EVACUATE TO THE ATLANTIC FLEET UNTIL SUCH A TIME AS YOUR ABILITIES ARE RESTORED. PLEASE HURRY. THE ATTACKING FORCE IS JUST OUTSIDE THE BUILDING. I ESTIMATE THEY WILL BREECH THE FIRST FLOOR WITHIN FIFTEEN MINUTES."

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  There were simply too many of them. Not just hundreds, or even thousands. They were an unending stream of undead, all converging on Miami after marching across Florida. They numbered in the millions.

  The canals filled with seawater surrounding Homestead Air Force Base and Argon Tower were now breached in several places. The undead had simply sacrificed their ranks to fill the canals in—their corpses clogging the wide channels like dams made of flesh.

  The last of the aircraft had already evacuated from the air base, carrying away troops that had been trying to keep the creatures at bay. Air crews had kept the planes running, reloading and refueling them for three days straight. But the unending army of the undead was too vast even for air strikes. It was as though the entire reanimated population of America had converged on Florida and Argon Tower.

  His ammunition was long spent, so Colonel Mark Kenslir now worked with his twin tomahawks. He slashed and cut, kicked and elbowed all around him, trying to hold back the never-ending wave of undead attackers. He could tell the blades on the two small weapons were wearing now. His slashing attacks were more crushing then cutting. Soon, he'd have to discard the weapons and switch to his Bowie knives.

  The battle had raged like this for at least an hour. The semi circle of stone soldiers—now numbered forty three men turned to living stone after the last full moon—were hacking and slashing at the zombies that were trying desperately to reach Argon Tower.

  Kenslir figured they'd come for the Fountain. Supernatural beings could sense etheric energy. Whoever was controlling these monsters must have figured out the Fountain was here. With it, there was no telling what they could accomplish with their undead army.

  That couldn't be allowed.

  Kenslir gathered his men outside the Tower as Homestead fell before the undead. He formed them into a wide skirmish line at the base of the Tower, hoping they could hold of the waves of undead back long enough for the last of the human forces inside to be evacuated by helicopter. But if not, he'd take the Tower down with them inside. It had to be done.

  The stone soldiers had stopped the advance of the undead invaders at first. But the crushing might of so many reanimated was too much for them. They stumbled and tripped on the many bodies gathering beneath their feet, ignoring the feeble clawing and biting of their attackers. But despite never tiring, the men of stone simply could not hold back the tide of death for long.

  Some of infected began to slip past. A helicopter gunship circling the tower began firing its minigun—tearing apart the zombies sprinting for the building's lobby doors. But even as they were torn to shreds, more managed to push past the line of defenders on the ground.

  The Colonel actually felt one of the creatures step on his head—having vaulted over its companions he was fighting. He couldn't turn to finish it off though, as the bodies that fell at his feet were immediately replaced with others, that, like those before them, still tried to pull the weapons from his hands, bite or scratch him.

  A sudden explosion rocked the Colonel, the shockwave spilling over him like a strong gust of wind. He felt hot air wash over him. Something had exploded above and behind him.

  Ignoring the feeble horde around him, the Colonel turned toward the explosion as he continued fighting—lashing out with his elbows and tomahawks, killing the infected six at a time.

  "Dammit!" he growled as a flaming helicopter dropped from the sky. The orbiting gunship had been shot down.

  Beacons appeared in the Colonel's field of view, indicating the source of the rocket launch. He bent his legs at the knees and pushed off from the ground, leaping clear of the horde ineffectively clawing at him.

  ***

  "What was that?" Dr. Laura Olson demanded, running to the edge of the roof. She, Josie, Jimmy and Kenji were in line to board the helicopters ferrying the staff of Argon Tower out to sea.

  She looked over the edge and saw the flaming wreckage of a UH-60 Blackhawk crash onto the pavement far below—flattening the undead that had broken through the line of stone soldiers trying to hold back the advancing mass of monsters.

  From the high roof of the building, the scene was something out of a nightmare. The undead must have numbered in the millions—a mass of running, screaming zombies that looked like angry army ants from so high up. Explosions erupted in the seething mass of creatures—rockets fired from gunships that passed by in the distance, then circled around to fire again. But there were simply too many. Each explosion created only a momentary gap in the swarm of reanimated—gaps that quickly filled back in.

  The latest relief helicopter lifted off from the roof, turning and sweeping away as another helicopter came in to land. A sudden red glare caused those on the rooftop to gasp as one. A small missile had raced up from far below and slammed into the tail boom of the departing helicopter.

  The explosion tore off the tail of the helicopter and it began to spin out of control. Two people fell out of the open side doors of the overloaded transport, then it vanished from sight as it sank down below the edge of the rooftop.

  Their own helicopter had set down now, and Laura and her companions saw the crew was frantically waving for them to board.

  "Maybe we should wait?" Laura yelled.

  Josie grabbed her by the arm and pulled her toward the helicopter. Two thin attack helicopters screamed in from the north, rocket pods firing at something on the ground.

  Laura found herself crammed in between two terrified looking technicians in khaki pants and white shirts. Analysts most likely, from one of the Tower's many data labs. Kenji was next, but couldn't find anywhere to sit.

  Laura grabbed the boy and pulled him into her lap. "Hold on!" she yelled, wrapping her arms around him.

  The helicopter was full now, and Josie and Jimmy were still on the roof. Josie gave the pilot a thumbs up, and the helicopter began to rise.

  "Josie!" Laura yelled, trying to get up. But with Kenji in her lap and the other passengers pressed against her, Laura was wedged in place, barely able to even breathe.

  ***

  Colonel Kenslir blasted through the zombie horde, knocking the angry, red-eyed creatures aside with his fists as he ran. He'd abandoned his dulled tomahawks and was using his bare hands now, intent on getting the undead out of his way instead of outright killing them. Making a path was far more important than reducing the unending numbers of the undead.

  He finally reached the crater that had been created seconds ago by rockets fired from two Marine SuperCobras that had flown in from the Fleet to assist. The explosion had made a huge dent in the mass of the zombies, but already they were filling back in.

  The Colonel could see that in addition to the angry, screaming, running Stage Two creatures, shuffling, mold-covered Stage Three undead were staggering over as well. One even reached for a Stinger missile launcher that had been dropped on the ground when the Marine heli
copters' rockets had struck.

  The Colonel dodged hands grabbing for him and leapt through the air again. He crashed shoulder first into the zombie reaching for the anti-aircraft launcher, knocking it off its feet. They both went down hard, tumbling into more of the creatures.

  Kenslir now found himself pinned under a mass of angry, biting bodies.

  >>>TOWER BREACH!<<< Max announced over the TTV.

  Somehow, the Colonel had managed to keep his TTV during the long melee with the undead. >>>EXECUTE!<<< he cyber-commanded into the tactical visor.

  ***

  Aboard their helicopter, Kenji could just make out the ground below as the aircraft banked and tried to circle around the tower. He saw a huge section of ground north of the tower lift up, then collapse down, followed by a rumble he could hear even over the roar of the Blackhawk's rotors.

  Like a sinkhole, the ground opened up and the zombies on it fell inside, swallowed up in the hole that was at least fifty feet across. Then a bright light flashed up, out of the hole, momentarily blinding Kenji.

  Almost immediately, a shockwave hit the helicopter and he felt it careening out of control. As his vision cleared, he could see the sky outside the helicopter spinning by. The aircraft was completely out of control and spiraling down toward the ground.

  As if in slow motion, Kenji saw Argon Tower sweep by through the open side door of the Blackhawk. The Tower was moving in slow motion. A shockwave was racing up the building, its glass windows shattering as the very building was lurching to one side. Like some mighty tree, the Tower was collapsing on its side—falling toward the huge crater beside it.

  Kenji briefly wondered if it was nukes the military had used to destroy the Fountain. Then his helicopter smashed into the ocean and the world went black.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  ONE DAY BEFORE INFECTION (43rd Attempt)

  Kenji kicked at his covers as he suddenly came awake. It was like waking up from a dream where you were falling. His sheets and pillow were soaked in sweat. His alarm began to buzz.