by Eric Gene
Pausing after close to four hours of trekking, Jason brought out a map he'd constantly used all through their journey. His brows furrowed as he compared their environment with that of the map.
"There should be something like a bunker here" he said, looking around. They were still surrounded by trees. Trees with tiny branches that were bound to break should they try sleeping on them.
Peter looked around, trying to pick out the supposed bunker that would tell them they were close. So far, they'd seen bodies covered in dirt. Some had big bullet holes between their brows, while the majority had arrows stuck in them. It was proof enough that they were on the right track.
But how close they were to the outpost was still a question yet answered.
As Jason walked around, looking from the map to the trees around, a sudden whistle swept past his ears. Both men turned swiftly to the sound of a smack.
An arrow had narrowly missed Jason.
"Where did it come from?" Jason whispered. Both of them had crouched low to avoid another shot. Peter responded by pointing a little towards the Northeast of Jason.
"Hello! We're humans, and we're alive!" Jason shouted, looking towards where Peter had pointed.
There was a little pause before they heard a loud voice say "Identify yourselves"
"We're survivors from the 12th Haven! I am Jason Harris, and I've got a friend with me" Jason replied. Peter yelled his own name to avoid doubts.
"Welcome to Haven 13's outpost, I am Commander Blair Johnson" said a thick bodied black American woman who looked a little in her thirties. For a woman, her voice sounded so loud and strong, it could compete with some of the men in the outpost.
"Yeah thanks ma'am, I am Jason Harris from Haven 12" Jason replied, receiving the handshake she'd offered. Peter had only been offered a nod.
"I'm sorry about the shot, we had to be sure"
"None taken ma'am, we're glad such measures are in place. Can't trust just any figure that looks human and walks around in the woods" Jason replied as they walked a little further into the outpost. They had been shot a second arrow with a rope attached. Following it as it was pulled backwards, they got to the outpost's entrance. It was a big construct of wood with a number of holes for snipers to take position. Archers manned the top of the outpost's fence. A few rail lines had been connected to nearby trees, and hidden in plain sight, were other archers and gun fighters sitting idly.
"I was wondering, why didn't you make use of a gun? I mean, why an arrow?" Jason asked, looking around and taking in the details of the outpost.
"Well, it's not everyday you get to see a birdie glancing down at a paper and looking around" Blair replied simply.
"Our code is simple, shoot on sight. But when we saw you with the paper, we had to be sure"
"So you shot an arrow? What if it got him in the skull?" Peter piped in.
"You saw the dead ones on your way, didn't you? We never miss... Except intentionally, that is" Blair replied, sparing him a glance.
"Plus, we don't want a horde of birdies to pick up on our location by a single shot. You see, they're docile in daytime, but when the sun goes down? That's when the madness really starts, and the slightest sound could lead them right to us" she explained.
"You definitely know a lot about the birdies, I suppose that was our mistake" Jason said
Blair came to a stop a little way from a makeshift tent office. Turning to look at both men she asked "what exactly happened with Haven 12? We were expecting intel on their own research to cure this madness, but nothing has come through last month nor this month. You're four weeks late."
Both Jason and Peter looked at one another, they had no idea of any research.
"I'm sorry ma'am, but we're not really aware of any research going on. Heck, we barely escaped the infestation"
"Wait what? What infestation?" Blair asked, perplexed. So far as she knew, there were 50 Havens in the United States alone, and they were all linked by telegraph. Each haven had a research team, and they all shared latest information on their research for a vaccine to cure the virus that turned people to zombies.
Each month, came with a report, and they were yet to receive news from Haven 12.
"You mean, you have no idea?" Peter asked. Blair's look gave him the answer he needed.
"We don't really know how it happened, but there was a sudden attack, and everything went crazy. I don't know if there are other survivors beside the two of us." Jason told her.
"There was a sudden attack? Wait, who're you two again?" She asked, looking confused. Her hands twitched at the hem of her gun's holster. Both Peter and Jason backed away at the sight of her hand's movement.
"We're survivors ma'am, from Haven 12. Please, that's all we are" Jason said quietly. As though on cue, a number of soldiers had surrounded them, waiting.
Commander Blair looked at both men for a while before waving off her soldiers. They were not the persons she was waiting for.
Chapter 2
Revelation
Everyone has bad days. Everyone has a point of breakdown from the accumulated stress.
That was what the Chinese government kept selling off to the world concerning the rising cases of dementia.
But when the rest of the world could no longer buy into their theory of stress induced dementia, especially due to the staggering cases milling up to over a hundred, they had to come up with something else. Something more sinister than the corona virus was at play, and they could hardly put their finger on it.
Like all moments of tension, especially when secrets must be kept, a leak surfaced in the dark web about the real state of things in China.
As it turned out, the makeshift hospitals erected by China to combat the corona virus, had been converted as a holding facility for a different set of patients.
China who had earlier claimed to have discharged all its corona virus patients, had sent out a different information. It was said that about 15% of the discharged corona virus patients were back to the hospitals for quarantine and treatment. The corona virus was still very much active, and it would take a while to fade completely despite the presence of breakthrough vaccines and disinfectants sprayed all over the nation.
But in reality, the information served as the best cover up for their battles with the latest virus threatening to blow.
The leak was detailed in its revelation. It had a five paged document concerning the latest virus and China's underground testing. But, much more than the document, was a video recording of a ravaging patient locked in a containment chamber and was punching hard on the glass wall that separated him from the doctors monitoring him.
As it was revealed, his was one of the milder cases. There were some who had had to be out down by soldiers because they risked breaking free from metal restraints, and packed enough punch to crack glass walls.
From the dark web, the information broke into the surface web where everyone had something to say concerning the leak. Blogs, websites, social media platforms hooked into the leak and turned on China.
First, it began by tons of online petitions against China. But when this failed to move national governments into action, violence against Chinese nationals took over.
The outrage was understandable. China was the source of the first virus, and their delay in handling it, caused a global pandemic that ruined the world's economy, and cost many the loss of a loved one.
Now, China had another case in hand, and it was treading the same slow pattern that had caused the first outbreak. They were bent on the same old claim of the virus being contained.
But the world had learnt its first lesson.
~~~
"So neither of you is an emissary from Haven 12?" Commander Blair questioned both men who were seated before her. Four soldiers stood behind them just in case.
"Ma'am, I assure you we're just regulars from the haven. I do my shifts in manning the outpost, and at times the Haven's entrance, but nothing interesting ever happened till that day" Ja
son explained
"He on the other hand, is just..."
"I worked in the kitchen... At least, most of the kitchen workers knew me" Peter spoke up for himself.
"We only met by accident during the chaos, I saved his life and we've been walking ever since. Heck, it's only the map that assured me of your location" Jason added, his voice shook slightly.
At his words, Commander Blair scanned the map in question, and turned back at Jason.
"Where did you get it?"
"Wait what?"
"The map, where did you get it?"
"I was given by a friend. He died right before my eyes" Jason said, his eyes had a different glint in them.
"Only emissaries are permitted to have copies of the map, so who exactly is this your friend?" queried Commander Blair, her voice was sounding more and more threatening.
"Scott... Scott O'Neal" Jason replied with his jaws clenched. He was pissed at the interrogation.
Once Commander Blair heard the name, her expression changed. The name rang a bell.
"Get me the list of emissaries from Haven 12 now" she ordered one of her soldiers. Within minutes, he had returned with a piece of paper which he handed over to her.
Right at the top of the list was Scott O'Neal. He was Haven 12's fastest and most skilled emissary.
"Does that ring a bell now" Jason asked bitterly.
"Hmmm, I suppose it does... A bell too loud to be unheard" she replied tersely as she folded back the list.
Just as she was handing over the list to the soldier who had brought it, one of her men rushed in panting.
"Commander, we've got a horde approaching the outpost as we speak. Captain Nathan said to come get you" he said in a single breath. From his look, Jason knew he was a runner. A dedicated soldier who's first line of action was to relay information from the outpost to the main haven. They also served as scouts whenever the haven had plans of expanding.
"Well Jason Harris, I suppose we could make use of your skill" the commander said to Jason who had risen to his feet with Peter.
"I'd like to have a word once we've decimated this horde" she said as her men loaded up guns. Jason and Peter had been given better guns compared to the ones they'd arrived with.
There was a little tension in the air as they approached the outpost. They hadn't had to face a horde in a long while. The largest band they'd killed off had fifty moving together.
But whenever a horde is mentioned, they had to expect nothing less than five hundred.
"What's their location" Commander Blair asked once she'd gotten to the captain in charge of the outpost.
"Not fully in range, but I wouldn't risk them get totally in range. I estimate about two thousand" Captain Nathan said casually. Blair looked at him in surprise, she'd never had to fight close to that number in a long time.
"How the hell did we miss them?"
"You forget, we're yet to get word from the last scouts we sent out" Nathan replied. True to his words, they were yet to receive the scouts they'd sent out three days before Jason and Peter had arrived. The commander knew that if they'd seen the horde, they would have reported back immediately. But as it seemed, they'd most likely had been taken by surprise.
"So what do you say we send out a strike team? Just a few brave hearts that are good with stealth" he added. Blair stared at him.
"If you wouldn't mind, I'll love to join your strike team" Jason spoke up. He had been listening to their conversation, and from the commander's reaction, he knew that the haven hadn't had to battle hordes before. Nathan who had hardly paid attention to the others that came with the commander, gave Jason a quick glance and nodded. It was as though he could smell Jason's experience with the zombies.
"Are there any other volunteers?" he asked, to which a few soldiers numbering up to ten responded. Peter lowered his gaze.
Armed with crossbows and guns, Captain Nathan led an eleven man team out to the woods. They were to take out as many as possible quietly, and return to the outpost where the battle was going to take place.
"Our job is to clean them up nicely from the edges while those in the trees cover us" he told his strike team as they marched into the darkness of the woods.
Crouching low, the team glanced ahead of them. They could see the silhouettes of slow moving figures, but could hardly see their faces.
"Are you sure they'll be able to differentiate between us? It's pitch black out here" grumbled one of the soldiers. Nathan spared him a glance and said "mommy's in the haven, you just might as well run back to her soldier."
"You look like you can handle yourself out there" he said to Jason who was crouched low beside him.
"Care to lead five of these guys?"
"That could work" Jason replied without sparing a glance. He had led strike teams back at Haven 12, and he knew just how tensed the men could be before they swung into action. But these were more than the ideal bands of lesser than fifty. There was bound to be casualties, especially in the dark.
"We'd have to work as a team, take out the closer ones, one after the other. No heroics" he said just before they parted ways. The zombies were too many and in close proximity with one another to be taken out carelessly.
Dividing his team into two, he led two men with him whilst giving directions to his second team. It was simple, take out as many as you can quietly, and return to the outpost in twenty minutes.
The ticks of the clock slowed as they crept up behind zombie after zombie. Well placed shots from crossbows, had them dropping like flies. Although the zombies were known to be very sensitive at night, it seemed they hardly cared nor heard when one of their fell to the ground.
Bit by bit, they'd taken out fifteen when they heard a twig snap in the distance. Almost immediately, all the zombies paused, their attention had been drawn by that singular sound.
"Oh shit" was all Jason could say as the zombies broke into a run.
"To the outpost now!" he shouted at his men as he brought out his gun. The trio backed away swiftly, gunning down any zombie that popped into their line of sight.
A scream was followed by two others within minutes. Three men had gone down.
"Watch your sides!" he barked at the men in from of him. They'd nearly been jumped by zombies.
Although the zombies were slow, their numbers covered up for their speed. Just as they'd been snuffed out one by one, they'd fed on six out of the twelve men that had formed the strike team.
Jason who'd lost one of his teammates, broke through the entrance of the outpost just as the party led by Nathan came through.
"Open fire!" thundered Commander Blair once she saw that Nathan had made it into the outpost.
A rain of arrows and bullets riddled the horde as they rushed towards the outpost. Wave after wave was gunned down, and those that made it past the shooting spree, were taken down by fighters positioned at the base of the outpost.
For two hours, they battled the hordes until something surprising happened. The zombies turned back and ran.
Never had it happened before that they had the sense to run for their dead lives. This was definitely the first time.
"You said you were a friend of Scott O'Neal?"
"That is correct ma'am"
"And you just saw what we saw right?"
"Yes ma'am"
"Well then, we need answers... How the hell did this happen?" Commander Blair bellowed. Although he knew she definitely did not expect him to have answers to what they'd just encountered, he spoke up nonetheless.
"Maybe the virus is mutating further... To give them an idea of self preservation beyond food."
"That's definitely helpful... The last thing I want to do is to fight an army of intelligent man eaters. What would they do next, wield guns?" she asked sardonically. Jason kept quiet, gritting his teeth.
Ever since he had escaped death in Haven 12, he had made up his mind to live like a common survivor in the next haven. But deep down, he knew that the infestation that had riddled Haven
12 had been an inside job. Probably someone had been infected, and his mutations failed to go extreme. There definitely must have been someone who compromised the Haven's security long enough to draw in the zombies.
He had hoped to silence the memory once he made it to the next haven, pretending not to know anything sensitive. But the experience of the night had given him second thoughts. These zombies had begun building ties. They were becoming intelligent sort of, and if that was the case, they were definitely going to have much worse to deal with.
Chapter 3
Infected
From the first Chinese national to be lynched in an African country for coughing uncontrollably, to the full on assaults on hotels hosting Chinese nationals, people all over the world pressed their governments to sanction the Chinese government for its persistence in sticking to lies.
Venting their spleen, they took to the streets and eliminated any Chinese who had symptoms of literally any sicknesses at all. This, coupled with their naturally dreamy eyes made matters worse, as it was impossible to tell the sick from just his eyes and manner of walking.
Although the Chinese government withdrew its nationals, it kept all its activity hidden from prying nations.
But that wasn't bound to last.
After suffering global ridicule online and offline, the Chinese turned on their own government and planned a mass protest. The plan was to surround the makeshift hospitals and keep chanting for the truth until they were heard.
But like all protests bound to go south, theirs turned swiftly into chaos with them overrunning the facility.
It had started peacefully with each man carrying his placard with whatever inscription that would get the government to reveal the secret virus they were dealing with. Some had megaphones, and some wielded sticks. That was where things took a turn for the worst.
A man had been gently pushed backwards by a soldier. He was stepping beyond the line restraining protesters, and the soldier had only done his duty. But that singular act was enough to cost them the peaceful protest.