“Get those damned choppers outta the air!” The general demanded.
The doctor, losing control of his feet, stepped back, then again and again and then he was running back to base. Why had he pushed forward with his virus before it was ready? So much for his retirement plans.
Soldiers’ fingers trembled as they hastily replaced spent cartridges. They fired again and still they continued, staggering toward them, nothing stopping them.
The first soldier to panic dropped his weapon and curled into a ball behind a humvee, then another.
Sergeants screamed at them to remain in position, but then a trickle became an avalanche as more and more men, in the face of an unstoppable horde retreated. At first they retreated in good order but it soon became staggered.
Finally, they broke as the horde kept coming and descended on the base.
Our society is run by insane people for insane objectives. I think we’re being run by maniacs for maniacal ends...and I think I’m liable to be put away as insane for expressing that. That’s what’s insane about it.
John Lennon
One
Sarah stirred to the sound of the wire fence being shaken again. She knew it was the fence because she’d long since become accustomed to the sound of errant zombies trying to gain access to Clinton County.
She clasped tightly to the covers, bringing them over her head. It was warm inside and cold out. But she wouldn’t get back to sleep now the early morning wake-up call had arrived. So she’d get up and start the day. It would only be a matter of time before the Guardians arrived but she would not get back to sleep now.
Sarah showered and dressed before opening the door to the outside, morning cup of coffee in hand, the steam clear in the cold winter breeze.
Three zombies were in front and they roused on spotting Sarah and once again rattled the fence. It was cursed luck they’d built the fence so close to her front door, not to mention her bedroom window. She was more accustomed to the sight of these freaks than just about anybody in Clinton County.
Why had the Guardians not arrived yet?
Molly, her friend from down the street was walking her Golden Retriever. Bella was a friendly dog who loved everybody. But if there were zombies around she became timid and would shy away from attention. Zombies were a fact of life, but for whatever reason, Bella could never learn to accept them.
‘Woke you up again?’ Molly asked.
‘It’s not like I needed my beauty sleep.’ Sarah took a sip from her steaming mug.
‘They’re slow today!’ Molly nodded toward the fence that revealed the vast openness of Terra Incognita.
Sarah watched as the zombies shook the wire, appearing to believe they could somehow phase through if they persisted – Stupid creatures. One of them wrapped its mouth around a section of metal and Sarah winced as she heard the electricity surge through its body. The smell of burning flesh wafted over on the breeze.
She’d been taught in school about the time a teenager had been curious about Terra Incognita and tried to scale the fence. She’d been frazzled, suffering a horrific death in the process. The Guardians had erected the fence for the protection of Clinton County and she had displeased them by trying to escape. Her death was deserved. Obey the Guardians and you will live a happy life, she’d been taught.
The electrified zombie still tried to chew through the wire, to phase its body through the fence, except now it had soldered its lips in fusion and was unable to move.
The Guardians were arriving in the distance. A black off-road vehicle rumbled over the grass before stopping close to the three zombies. Sarah and Molly watched and waited. Four Guardians opened the doors in unison and stepped out from the vehicle. They were dressed all in black and wore Kevlar face masks that covered their entire head.
They stumbled over to the zombies, dragging their feet behind them. Sarah hoped they weren’t in too much pain, they always appeared to be in a state of torment. The four Guardians looked the zombies over, assessing them. Two of the zombies turned and looked at the Guardians, stopping in seaming obedience, while the third which omitted a strong burning smell kept its focus on Sarah and Molly. Sarah jumped as the blade split its forehead. The zombie went limp, arms collapsing by its sides, fused mouth holding the entire corpse in an upright position.
Two Guardians gently guided the remaining zombies to the vehicle before closing the door on them. Their fellow Guardians pulled the deceased zombie off the fence, making the sound of raw flesh being pulled from ice before throwing it in the trunk of the vehicle. There remained the lower part of the zombies face, still smoldering, wrapped around the electrified wire.
‘Good dog, you all better now?’ Molly gave Bella a pat as she sprung back to life. ‘I have an appointment at the clinic in about thirty minutes, so I’ll catch you later honey. I assume you’re still ok for a girly evening later?’
Sarah watched the black off road vehicle disappear into Terra Incognita and nodded. ‘Of course, I’ll bring the iron supplements.’
‘Only another two weeks and my next litter will arrive.’ Molly patted her bulging belly with a smile.
Sarah turned away and placed her hands on her own belly.
Two
Sarah was old enough to remember life in Clinton County, Ohio right before World War III. Her father had been a journalist, so Sarah was fed a diet of current events at the dinner table whether she liked it or not.
It began with a tiny event that happened on the other side of the world. Crises escalated out of all proportion and at an extraordinary pace, bringing in more and more nations until there was nothing world leaders could do to prevent the ever increasing pace and momentum of what was unfolding.
The tiny country of Cyprus had been living beyond its means. Large government as well as grand infrastructure projects had created large national debts which the country could not repay to its international creditors. Eventually the Cypriot government requested a bailout from the European Union. The bailout came on the condition the people of Cyprus pay the debt from a percentage of their personal savings. However, before the Cypriot government could get to the people’s money, the people had acted first, by lining up at every available cash point and withdrawing all the money they had.
This had caused a trio of small European banks who had money tied up in Cyprus to increase their interest rates in an attempt to recoup money the Cypriots had withheld. This increase had caused other debt heavy European nations; Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece and Spain to follow the Cypriot’s lead and to request bail out money from the European Union in order to pay their international creditors and banking debts. This money was given to each, on the condition that the money was paid back from the bank accounts of their people. Once again, this caused runs on the banks of all these countries with millions of people queuing up to withdraw all the money they had.
The chain reaction had begun.
Within weeks, there had barely been a country untouched. Companies, organizations and businesses were unable to pay their workers. Paper money became worthless and the real currency was replaced by gold and silver. Before long, this too had become next to worthless as the real currency then changed to canned food, fuel, warm clothes, guns and ammunition.
For the most part, societies still remained civil. Only moderate amounts of civil unrest and rioting were shown on the media. The unrest that existed had been swiftly and brutally put down.
However, there had been those nations that used this distraction the world banking collapse had caused to further their national agendas. China invaded Taiwan and Japan simultaneously before finally massacring the remaining Tibetans. India heavily increased its troop numbers in Kashmir, causing Pakistan to do the same. North Korea invaded its southern neighbor. Venezuela invaded Colombia. North Sudan marched into South Sudan. The Israelis finally exterminated the Palestinians within the Gaza concentration camp before increasing their territory north into Lebanon and Syria, east into Jordan and West into Egyp
t. Although Argentina had attempted another invasion of the Falkland Islands, they had been quickly dealt with by superior British forces. Even the North Africans of Morocco and Algeria had attempted an audacious invasion of Andalusia in Spain, only to have their ships sunk off Gibraltar, merely a few nautical miles from where they set sail.
With the huge and costly distractions taking place all over the world, it did not take long for civil conflicts to arise. The South Africans massacred what remained of the white Boer peoples. There were countless tribal wars within Africa. The Red Cross claimed the Hutus wiped out the Tutsis and few remaining Twas. Although the media refused to report it, Sarah’s father spoke about how the Israelis had “cleared out” the remaining Palestinians from the West Bank too.
To call what was going on “World War III” was inaccurate. The closest thing to describe what was really happening was simply high quantities of regional conflicts. With so many of these conflicts going on around the world at the same time, it could never be proven which nation or nations had unleashed the biological weapons. Around eighteen months after the Cypriot banking collapse, Sarah’s father first broke the news around the dinner table. The news was big and it would change the world forever.
It had first been reported in several places at once. Soldiers were being shot on the battlefield and were rising as if nothing had happened. They were rising and not simply attacking the enemy, but were also attacking their comrades and countrymen with total indifference. These soldiers would prove nearly impossible to take down. No amount of body shots made any difference. What’s more, many wore Kevlar helmets which gave protection from head shots.
This new development took all nations by surprise and there had been very little they could do to stop it.
Almost immediately, stories emerged of morticians being attacked by the dead in morgues. Of mass panics in hospital wards where the dead leapt up from their beds to attack loved ones. There were even isolated reports of the dead clawing their way out from the ground and corpses in mass graves attacking their murderers.
Imagine the shock when it emerged that Hugo Chavez was once again leading Venezuela, months after his supposed death.
In rural Ohio, not much had been seen of the troubles or of, who the media had named “zombies.” The first time Sarah had been affected directly by world events was when, aged ten, her father was sent by his newspaper to report on the situation in Venezuela. That had been the last she ever saw of him.
Three
‘I have iron, ladies.’ Sarah beamed at the large group of girls who had arrived for movie night.
Ten women, all in advanced stages of pregnancy, gathered in the large living room. They wore glamorous clothes and sat on three large white leather sofas. Sarah felt the warmth and love the women all had for each other. She loved it when the girls would get together, be lazy, chat and have some fun. These were her family.
‘The Guardians are delivering my new dog tomorrow.’ Karen said with excitement.
‘You’ve had quite a wait! Bella was delivered the day after Macy died.’ Molly said with puzzlement.
‘It’s of no real importance. I’m still getting my walks in. The company would be nice though.’ Karen stared into blankness. ‘I wonder what I’ll get this time. Hopefully a large breed.’
‘What for? Bella balks every time she spots a zombie, may as well have a poodle.’ The girls erupted in laughter.
Sarah passed the capsules of iron around the group, who each took one, placing them in their mouths and swallowing with a sip of water. ‘Now, now Molly, you know Bella isn’t here to defend herself.’ She looked around the room, ‘Where’s Rita?’
A darkness enveloped the group at the mention of Rita’s name, two of the women looked down into their laps, everybody falling silent. It was Hillary who spoke for the group. ‘Honey, she miscarried, this morning.’
Sarah’s heart leapt into her throat. She didn’t need to ask for any more information. Over the last few years she’d known several girls who’d miscarried. She had been deeply fond of Mary who lived down the street. Mary was seven months pregnant when she lost the litter. Sarah had watched from her window the next morning as Mary was escorted from her house by a Guardian. She never saw Mary again, though the next day Molly had moved in.
‘Let’s start the movie.’ Molly pressed a few buttons on the remote and the screen came to life.
Damn it! Sarah had seen this movie like five times. She would stay and watch it for the benefit of the newer girls who may not have seen it yet. The movie was about a fifteen year old girl who’d arrived from Terra Incognita. She was placed in Clinton County because she’d shoplifted on the outside. At first she resisted her new friends who tried to take her under their wing. Though eventually she finds sisterhood with them, gives birth to several litters, does her duty, blah blah blah.
The film was uplifting the first few times Sarah saw it. But after the fourth viewing she began to wonder about Terra Incognita and what lay out there. It was around that time she began having dreams of her father. She remembered tiny details about him and of what he’d been like. Over the weeks, this gave way to recollections of other males she thought she knew. She once shared a classroom with boys - That was a certainty. The memory of having a younger brother also came up occasionally, though she could not say for sure, for she was only ten when things had changed so much. As Sarah’s fourth litter grew inside her, she was experiencing ever more vivid recollections of her father at the dinner table and of the stories of the world he would tell.
Four
When Mike Smith arrived in Venezuela, he was unable to comprehend what was happening.
Hugo Chavez died from cancer only the year before. It was a huge news story at the time, with heads of state from all over the world attending the funeral. Millions filed past Chavez’ coffin and saw him lying in state.
Eventually, Chavez was embalmed and placed on permanent display in the national military museum in Caracas. For the few months Chavez had been on display, he was the most popular attraction in all of Venezuela.
Then one evening as the museum was closing, while several students viewed their former President, Chavez began tapping on the glass casing that enclosed him.
Several students fainted while others ran out screaming, causing the security guard to run over. On seeing that his beloved President was alive and in excruciating pain, the guard had been unable to contain his emotions. He then proceeded to use the butt of his rifle to break the glass cabinet and free Chavez.
Chavez had apparently thanked the security guard, who embraced him, by biting off his face. Chavez then moved on to devouring the students who lay unconscious on the floor.
From what Mike Smith had learned from his sources, the next morning, only bones remained, scattered around the tiles of the state room of the museum. The story went that Chavez was later found in the laundry area, ironing creases from his suit.
Within hours, the whole country was ecstatic about the news that their great leader was alive once again. Large portions of the mainly Catholic country even hailed it as the second coming. Within days, President Maduro stepped down and in a mood of national euphoria had reinstalled President Hugo Chavez to lead the nation.
Chavez immediately spearheaded several initiatives aimed at turning the country around. The first thing he did was call a truce with the Colombians, ordering all Venezuelan troops home. He then shut the borders, effectively preventing anybody from entering or leaving the country. There were thousands of enemy Colombian soldiers trapped, but Mike Smith had been more preoccupied with the fact he was also prevented from escaping the country and returning to Ohio. The internet was cut off along with all forms of telecommunications with the outside world. All TV and press were nationalized which effectively gave the government full control of all information that was leaked to the people. The most surprising of all Chavez’ initiatives was when he shut down their offshore oil drilling platforms, ordering all workers back to the mainl
and.
Mike Smith had been unable to get news of events in the country out to his paper. This was frustrating because it was a huge story. Within weeks, there were hundreds of thousands of zombies cutting down ordinary citizens at random and in the most brutal of fashions. Thousands of dead soon turned to millions which turned to tens of millions.
Mike kept safe by holing up with a group of survivors in the sewers. After months, they finally re-emerged in the capital city Caracas, to a changed country.
True, there were hardly any “normal” people around now. Mike learned that truth from a stray newspaper dated months earlier. He read exactly where the remaining living population were being kept, in apparent safety. What’s more, Mike could tell that time had given these zombies the ability to think. If they could produce stories in newspapers, then what else were they capable of achieving?
For days, the survivors wondered the deserted Caracas streets. Food and safety were always the top priorities, the need to decide upon a course of action not far behind. Should they travel towards where they were told humans were “kept?”
Eventually, the small band of nine scruffy survivors agreed upon that course of action. They would travel on foot at night and hole up in the day. They would avoid the roads and keep to the mountains. They had no idea what lay in Colombia to the west, but they hoped to get some form of transport that could eventually take them to the United States.
For weeks, they walked; cold, starving, exposed and in constant fear of the unknown. Still, the plan had served them reasonably well, until unfortunately, only five miles from the Colombian border, they were surrounded by a number of all-terrain vehicles. The men who emerged were dressed in black and wore complete head covering Kevlar helmets. The men never spoke and so Mike could not tell from their accents where they were from. The black-clad men did however have the most uncomfortable bearing and poor balance.
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