Evolution Z (Book 3): Stage Three

by Bourne, David

  Duke now made a more deliberate attempt and threw a straight left at his opponent’s face. Fuller avoided the punch by a small step to the left and moved to the side. This was exactly what Duke had expected to occur. He put his left foot down and turned his hip with full force. He moved his elbow and wanted to slam it into Fuller’s face. Six inches. Four inches. Good night, old man.

  The elbow hit, and Duke was sure this was the end of the fight. His assumption was short-lived when he felt a sharp pain radiate through his upper arm. He staggered back and looked at Richard Fuller again. That man stood there, his own elbows raised to counter Duke’s attack. Fuller had taken a step backward and hit the muscles of Duke’s upper arm hard. Now he stood there, waiting for the next attack.

  This motherfucker. Duke was nervous, and Fuller seemed to sense this. As if to beckon him, Richard Fuller lowered his guard. Duke was beyond the point where he was able to make rational decisions, and he only wanted to hurt and humiliate his opponent. He struck with his right fist. Fuller did not raise his guard again, but ducked and put his chin on his chest. This time Duke’s punch directly landed on Richard Fuller’s forehead but once again it was he who got hurt. He must have sprained at least three of his fingers.

  “That was an impressive hit, Mr. Powell. Did you know the skull is among the hardest bones in the human body? It has to be, to protect the brain. Yours might not be that developed, though. Do you see now why I am wearing gloves?” Fuller once again looked as relaxed as he appeared before the fight. He wasn’t even breathing harder, while Duke sounded like a steam locomotive.

  When Fuller slowly moved toward him, Duke suddenly experienced a feeling he hadn’t known in years: Duke Powell was afraid. What is it with this asshole?

  He did not have enough time to ponder this question because in two quick steps, Fuller was standing directly in front of him. Duke jerked up his hands to protect his face, but it was useless. He noticed how the punch against his floating ribs took his breath away and forced his arms downward. The second punch hit his throat, as Fuller had aimed straight for his carotid artery. Duke blacked out and collapsed. Fuller followed him down and pressed his knee against his temple. Then he once again squeezed his thumb against the artery. Afterwards, Fuller yelled at the others, who had watched this spectacle in fascination: “This concludes our training. I will see you tomorrow during the outside mission.” Then he bent down and spoke into Duke’s ear. “Sleep well, Sunshine.” Duke lost consciousness.

  When he finally came to, dusk was already falling. He first assumed that he was alone in the quiet of the amphitheater, but when he got on his feet, he saw Richard Fuller sitting on a bench, looking at his pocket watch. When Fuller noticed that Duke was awake, he put the watch away.

  “Your anger matches your incompetence, Mr. Powell. You won’t get anywhere that way–neither with me nor at Sanctuary. Try to rise above it.”

  “What are you blabbering about, Fuller?” Duke growled.

  “You are wasting your potential. I know men like you. Always rough, always coarse, and they think they own the world and can do anything. I do not accept such behavior. I am not the weak, peace-loving grandfather you seem to take me for. I have the same goals as you. However, I am smart enough to prepare myself and let time work for me.”

  “I have no idea what the hell you’re talking about.” Duke was confused. What did this Fuller really want from him?

  “I have watched both you and your friends. How you looked around. How you talked to Krueger. You have already recognized the potential of this place, Mr. Powell. Everything is okay. Under Krueger’s leadership, everything somehow works. But it could be much better, couldn’t it? It could be better, because you could make it better. If they would only let you–isn’t that it?”

  These word made Duke think. Of course that was it. He did not want to grant Richard Fuller a second victory so quickly, though.

  “Let’s assume this were true, Mr. Fuller. What would be your role? And why are you telling me this?”

  “Walter Krueger is a sentimental fool. And what is worse, he is a sentimental Christian fool who still loves his neighbors when they are trying to bite his face off. The man has been in here since the start of the virus outbreak. He did not see what we witnessed because he was never outside. Krueger thinks he can just sit out things and solve every problem non-violently. He wants to smile away the undead plague and create a Garden of Eden he can hide in. But what we need isn’t a garden, it is a stronghold–a stronghold with an army, so we won’t perish.”

  “What are you planning to do? Aren’t you afraid I might tell Krueger what you just said to me?” Duke had actually no intention of doing this. This conversation was moving in a very intriguing direction, and he just wanted to see how Fuller would react.

  “You are playing poker, Mr. Powell. Oh, well, then let’s play poker.” Fuller sat down next to Duke. He made exaggerated gestures while he talked.

  “If you go to Krueger, you would probably rise in his esteem. Or, he might not believe you at all, as he trusts me completely. So this would involve a certain risk for you. Being on my side, however, only brings you advantages. I have already gained a good reputation due to my being here before you and proven my worth. This means that I can ensure you will also be well-respected. And this is just what I am planning to do next.”

  “What would be the purpose of that? Get to the point.”

  “As you wish. Do you know what is necessary for a successful conspiracy?” Fuller waited for the question to sink in and then answered it himself.

  “Allies, Mr. Powell.”

  “I’m still all ears,” Duke answered.

  “Brutus could never have killed Caesar by himself. He needed resources and co-conspirators. I don’t understand why more women and children should die, just because we have a leader who lacks the courage and foresight to make tough but correct decisions. The two of us could become the heroes of this story.”

  Duke was surprised by Richard Fuller’s openness. How did he know that he had struck a nerve with Duke? This man seemed to be a good judge of people.

  “I don’t like this kind of guy anyways, who is obsessed by Indians. I hate softies–they just don’t survive very often. But I think right now the town stands behind Krueger. How can we change that?” Duke asked.

  Fuller kept a straight face. If he was happy to have snared Duke Powell, he did not show it.

  “By being prepared, Mr. Powell. You are wrong if you think all the people here are on Krueger’s side. There are plenty who would favor a tougher course. A course, which the two of us can plot. I have already done some advance work, but there is much left for us to do. First of all, we are going to get you a massive reputation in this town. No matter whether people like you or fear you, it is important that they first of all know you. Our next step must then be to expand our influence.”

  “I like your ideas, Mr. Fuller. They are very forceful, and not only in a verbal sense. I must admit that I completely underestimated you. I’m on your side now.”

  “You made the right decision. Being on my side will not only help you to gain respect, but also various other amenities. And one more thing. All women like heroes.” Fuller gave him a piercing glance.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Just think about it, Mr. Powell. It’s not that hard. Can I count on your support and rely on you not doing anything foolish?” Fuller stood up and reached out a hand to help Duke up. Duke took the hand and let his new ally pull him upright.

  “You have my word of honor. I’ll follow your plan, as long as I can see it’s working.”

  “That is enough for me. Have a nice evening. You will hear from me. The lesson is now over.”

  Duke glanced at him as he walked away. Okay, old man, you win this one.

  The training session had taken an odd turn. Duke had wanted to teach this stuck up Limey a lesson by showing his people that Fuller was a weakling. But now Duke almost felt obligated to the man–even after F
uller had first given him a beating, followed by a lecture. How the hell did that happen? Duke thought about what he had heard and the nearly limitless opportunities ahead of them. He definitely had to talk to Danny and Pam and let them in on the whole thing.

  29Operation Pegasus (II)

  During his speech, Pelletier had deliberately avoided mentioning the mission to Sanctuary. The fewer people knew about it, the better.

  The Bell UH-1H stood in the same forest clearing outside Fort Weeks, from where Ray had taken off to fly to the USS George Washington several days ago. Today’s flight had an altogether different context. During the past few days, the situation had worsened on an almost hourly basis. First the revelations on board the aircraft carrier, then the catastrophe at Fort Weeks. In the rear of the clearing, thin columns of smoke rose from the pits where there were still smoldering piles with the human and undead reminders of the battle that occurred just two days ago. The stench was unbearable, and no one present wanted to linger any longer than absolutely necessary, so the good-byes were rather short.

  Scott, Screw and Nika were already in the helicopter, together with Watson, when Pelletier spoke with Ray. He looked skeptically at the Bell helicopter.

  “And you are really sure about your group?” he asked.

  “Absolutely,” Ray replied with a nod.

  They had already discussed this earlier that day, when Ray hat told Master Sergeant Pelletier about his choices. Pelletier had tried to change his mind, before Ray reminded him of the Vice President’s words. Full support.

  “But these people lack the proper training,” Pelletier had insisted. “Screw is a mechanic. He may know how to repair an engine, but he is no soldier. Even though he has taught some survivors who could take over his duties, I would rather have him here. Gerber is a lumberjack and afraid of guns. He won’t even touch firearms, and if he did, he wouldn’t use them properly. And we know practically nothing about this woman Nika. You are starting out on this mission with what amounts to a bunch of civilians.”

  “And that‘s exactly my plan, Master Sergeant,” Ray had said to him. “I don’t know what exactly the two missions from the USS George Washington did at Sanctuary, but riding in as the cavalry to rescue people seems to have been an epic fail in both instances. We‘re going to do it differently, this time around.”

  “And the dog?” Master Sergeant Pelletier had asked dumbfounded.

  “His name is Watson–and I like to have him along.”

  That was the end of the discussion. Pelletier then made sure Ray’s team received weapons and some supplies, before they drove together to the departure location where the Bell helicopter now stood. Ray and Screw each carried an M4A1, and Nika had an M40A5 sniper rifle. All these weapons could be equipped with a silencer. Scott brought his new ax along. Besides these weapons, all four of them had combat knives.

  “Oh, well,” the master sergeant said. “Take care of yourself, Thompson. And report to us as soon as possible, when you have reached Sanctuary.”

  “Dixon told me there hasn’t been any contact with it for three weeks,” Ray replied.

  “This does not imply that any radio contact would be impossible. We just did not hear from our informant.”

  “What was the informant’s name?” Ray asked.

  “It was a woman. Well, to be exact, more of a girl. Her name is Lisa.”

  Ray nodded, even though he was not sure how much of that he could believe.

  “What were the results of the quick tests?” Ray asked.

  “A total of six men and five women are infected. Since we don’t know how long they have been infected, we’ve quarantined them. They have been placed in a cell block next to the hospital tent for newcomers, and they are being guarded around the clock.”

  Ray took a deep breath. “How are they doing?”

  “They are quite shocked. No wonder, if you were to receive such news. They feel they are ticking time bombs, though it might be months before something happens. The quicker we get an antidote, the higher the survival chances of these people.” The concern in Pelletier’s voice sounded genuine.

  “Then we‘ll try to get Dr. Abbadon’s family to the aircraft carrier as soon as possible.” With these words, Ray turned around and got into the helicopter. Shortly afterwards they were airborne.

  30Redstone

  As they were leaving Fort Weeks behind them, Scott studied the map that Ray had given him before take-off. While the helicopter flew above the forests behind the military base, the former lumberjack had to smile. Reading the map reminded him of his old job near Augusta. In the often rather remote areas of the forest, a map and a compass might be the only way of finding the way home, considering that navigation systems could rarely get a GPS signal. Now, as far as Scott could tell, that applied to the entire continent, if not the whole planet.

  Ray had marked the flight route in red and occasionally looked over to his friend to make sure they remained on course for their eventual destination. Screw and Nika were sitting behind them, with Watson on the floor of the copter between both. If they really were to fly people out of Sanctuary, these three occupants would have to sit on the exterior platforms along the fuselage of the helicopter. Nonetheless, at the moment Ray wasn’t even sure whether they would return by helicopter. At least for the way there he had other plans.

  After a little over an hour of flight time, a huge forest appeared on the horizon that almost filled the entire field of view. When Ray reduced the altitude, they could see it was an enormous wooded mountain, stretching for miles on both sides. At the foot of the mountain they could see a small settlement of white houses. Scott looked at the map. The forest must be the White Mountain National Forest, and the town of Redstone had been marked by Ray on the map. Now the Bell helicopter flew straight in the direction of Redstone.

  “But that isn’t Sanctuary,” Scott said, as he still remembered the aerial photographs they had been shown on the aircraft carrier. “Sanctuary was located on a mountain, not in front of one.”

  “I know,” Ray replied. “Just keep your eyes open for a suitable place to land.”

  Scott nodded, but asked himself what Ray was up to. The plan was to fly directly to Sanctuary, evacuate Abbadon’s family, ideally rescue family members of their own and then fly back. There had never been any mention of stopping in Redstone on the way.

  “How about that meadow over there?” Scott asked and pointed at a grass-covered area the size of a football field directly behind a church.

  “Looks good,” Ray replied and talked to the others via the microphone on his headset. “Okay people, let’s land here. Due to the noise we probably won’t be alone after the landing. Have your weapons ready and leave the helicopter as quickly as possible. As I mentioned, use firearms only in an emergency and if possible, silenced. Whatever happens, we have to stay together.”

  “Are you out of fuel, or why are we landing here?” Nika asked drily. “This sure doesn’t look like Sanctuary-”

  “Maybe he wants to go to confession before reaching Sanctuary,” Screw said with a smile and pointed at the church.

  “With me it probably wouldn’t help if the pope himself heard my confession,” Ray said. “As soon as we are down, we‘re going to look for a place where we can stay. Then I‘m going to tell you everything. Get ready!” With these words he pulled the Bell helicopter into a left turn toward the meadow. Even during the approach, several nearby undead moved toward the noise coming in from above. Scott grabbed the handle of his ax and scowled with disgust.

  31Bloodlust

  When they touched down, a welcoming committee of about twenty zombies was already lurching excitedly across the meadow in the direction of the helicopter. Ray glanced at the church. The way there was clear. If they hurried, they could reach the building without getting into a fight.

  “Okay, let’s get out of here. Don’t forget your gear! ” he yelled to the others. While the rotor blades were still slowing down, they got out and ran towa
rd the church. When they had covered almost half of the distance and the noise of the rotors faded away, they heard frantic barking from the helicopter. They turned around and saw Watson, who seemed to be too scared to leave and was instead loudly barking from the cockpit at a couple of zombies that had almost reached the helicopter.

  “Oh no–damn it!” Ray yelled. He threw down his backpack and ran back, and Scott did the same. He had been the last to leave the helicopter and had been sprinting much slower toward the church but now he was in the lead going in the opposite direction.

  “You can take care of Watson!” he yelled over his shoulder to Ray, while he steered for the zombies. Five of the undead were faster than the rest and had separated from the large group they had seen from the air. Watson growled and bared his teeth, but that only seemed to enrage the undead. They grunted and slobbered excitedly and lurched toward the dog. Scott wanted to eliminate them before the other beasts, which were about a hundred yards away from the helicopter, had a chance to catch up.

  “WATSON!” Ray screamed. “COME HERE!”

  The dog did not appear to hear him. “Cover our backs,” Ray hissed at Screw and Nika, as he ran past them.

  Scott had already reached the helicopter and yelled at the top of his lungs to attract the zombies’ attention. He grabbed his ax with both hands and cleanly severed the heads of the first two creatures that came near him. The bodies fell with a thump on the meadow. The other three attacked him almost simultaneously, but Scott had more than enough experience with situations like this. He pushed two of the attackers back with the broad side of his ax so that they fell down, while he vigorously kicked the third one against the back of the knee. There was a loud crack when the knee broke. The undead sank on his crushed right leg and assumed a bizarre slanted position—until Scott decapitated him. Then he wasted no time with the two zombies lying on the ground. Before they could get up, he tensed his massive arms and raised his ax over his head. Then he let his weapon fall into their skulls in quick succession. That was it. He felt great.