Project Zulu (11 page)

Backed into a corner, literally and figuratively, Captain
Brice Hellatoni is just finishing an inventory of his remaining ammunition. He
cocks his head slightly to the left, and then right side.
Gunfire! That
sounds like gunfire!
He walks across the room, places the side of his head
up against the door, and listens. He stays in that position for what feels like
an eternity. He is about to give up, when two more shots ring out.
Yep, that
is gunfire for sure, and based on the echo, it is coming from the tunnel.
He
pushes the desk aside quietly, and slowly opens the door.

He pokes his head out, ever so slightly. The hallway is
clear in both directions. He slips his head back into the room and closes the
door. He unsheathes his bayonet and secures it to the end of his rifle. He
checks his sidearm, full clip and one in the chamber, then his rifle, locked
and loaded. He pulls the door open again, slowly, checks the hall, and slips
out.

He creeps down the hallway, toward the bunker room. As he
approaches the first ninety degree turn in the hallway, he stops and checks the
security mirror mounted in the top left corner of the intersecting hallway; the
coast is clear. He walks to the end of the intersecting hallway and checks the
next security mirror in the corner, nothing in the next hallway either. He
trots back down the hallway and sets his last grenade and tripwire, then
hustles back to the end.

He finally turns the last corner, and approaches the doorway
to the bunker, it is closed. He leans up against the door and listens. He hears
something, maybe breathing, maybe not. He holds his breath and listens more
intently.
Is that movement, cloth on cloth, leather on tile? That is
someone, or something, moving. It has to be.

He switches sides and puts his other ear up against the
door, holds his breath again and listens. Convinced that what he is hearing is
human, not creature, he puts his hand on the knob.

The soldier with his head pressed up against the door steps
back and begins using hand signals to communicate with Mike. He is a bit
overzealous, and moves his whole arm instead of just his hand. His uniform
sleeve rubs against itself at the crook of his elbow.

Mike waves him away from the door. The men gather around
Mike as he begins to speak in muted whispers.

“I have no idea what to expect on the other side of that
door. Judging by what we encountered in the tunnel, I am not optimistic. We are
going to move down the hallway to the armory, replenish our ammunition, and
then find out what the hell is going on around here. Everyone make sure you are
locked and loaded, head shots only, I do not want anyone to panic. Stay calm
and remember your training. Don’t let the fact that some of those things are
wearing uniforms discourage you. Anything that isn’t human, shoot to kill, that
is an order.”

The soldiers silently salute their General, and begin
preparing their weapons. Mike walks over to the door and places his hand on the
knob. As he begins to turn the knob down, he feels pressure against the knob,
as if it is being turned from the outside. He applies a bit more pressure, and…KA-BOOM!
An explosions from somewhere in the hallway resonates through the bunker room.

“Alright you guys, I just got a new set of orders, I am
supposed to do a touchdown inside of the parking compound, and you five are
supposed to link up with a General Balchor. Comprende, Amigos?” Hanuno shots to
the back of the copter.

No answer from the smelly group. They were content to follow
the thought that Azaka had implanted into what was left of their brains.
Stay
together, stay away from the humans and keep your heads down. If anyone attacks
you, kill them. If the helicopter lands, kill the crew and pilot.

“Hanuno those swamp rats don’t speak your native language.”
Drew yelled up to the cockpit. “Let me translate.” He turned back toward the
group. “When we touch down I want you to get your stinky asses off of our
bird.”

“Thanks Drew.” Hanuno yelled back. “You and Tyler get
strapped into your jump seats, I am taking us down. He raised his voice a
little louder so the soldiers in the back could hear him. “Seriously fellas, I
need you up and moving as soon as we touch down.” He waited for an answer, eye
contact, anything, but got nothing.

As soon as the landing skids touch the ground, the five were
up on their feet, moving forward.
At least they understand English,
Hanuno
thought to himself.

They did not exit the helicopter, two attacked each strapped
in gunner, and one went for Hanuno. Hanuno was able to get two shots off from
his sidearm; the gunners didn’t stand a chance. It was over in a matter of minutes.
The zombie that severed Hanuno’s jugular left him to bleed to death and walked
past Tyler convulsing in his straps, and hastily joined the others feasting on
Drew. Azaka had been very clear; mortally wound the pilot, turn one of the
gunners, the other was theirs to consume, brains and all.

Jimmy is leading his rag tag band toward the predetermined
extraction point, when he sees the helicopter touching down inside the Syscorp
parking compound. He looks at OhAy shaking his head. “The Army hasn’t changed
one bit since I left. I cannot tell you how many extractions points I showed up
at and never saw my ride out.” He stops and turns to address the group. “Well,
it looks like some wires got crossed on the extraction point; we are going to
head up that way, to the parking lot.” He said pointing toward the building.

Old Glory lets out a few sputtering coughs just before her
engine cuts off. She coasts forward a few hundred feet before coming to a
complete stop. Azaka steps off, and lets her fall to the ground. He can see the
compound ahead, and has already telepathically confirmed that the helicopter is
waiting for him. After having them power down the copter, he instructed the
zombies to move forward toward the building.

The undead army behind him numbers in the thousands now, and
he is having a difficult time concentrating enough to keep them all on point.
He sends out a final telepathic blast,
converge on the building, attack and
kill everyone inside. Once all of the humans inside the building are dead, or
turned, I release you to kill and consume everyone you come into contact with.

He brings his thoughts back into his own head, and starts
toward the compound. He wants to reach the helicopter before the pilot dies, so
he can learn how to fly. As he approaches a crest in the road, he sees a group
of humans, making their way to the helicopter. He begins to run.

Jimmy and his group reach the helicopter and discover the
carnage. Jimmy climbs in and sees what is left of the gunner, which isn’t much.
He sees the huge wound on the pilot’s neck and the substantial pool of blood on
the cockpit floor and assumes the worst.

He exits the helicopter and addresses the group. “I do not
think that this is our extraction helicopter. It is too small; it would never
be able to carry all of us. I have decided that I am going to take four
soldiers with me into the building, I want the rest of you to continue to the
planned extraction point.” Jimmy points out four soldiers, and motions for the
rest of the group to move on.

OhAy is kneeling on the ground trying to comfort Amy, the
girl that the soldiers had found on the road. “I am staying with you Jimmy.”
OhAy calls out.

Jimmy walks toward OhAy and Amy; she is near hysterics when
Jimmy approaches.

“What is going on, what is wrong with her? Oh, and by the
way you are going with the group to the extraction point.”

“I don’t know, she just started screaming, and shaking. Oh,
and by the way I am staying with you.”

Before Jimmy can argue, Amy points down the road, and
screams something other than gibberish. “It’s Breaker!”

Jimmy and OhAy turn their heads in the direction that Amy is
pointing. They see what Amy sees. Jogging toward them is Breaker; at least in
body. OhAy notices his fiery red pupils even at this distance.

OhAy grabs Jimmy by the arm. “We need to get out of here, that
thing coming toward us is not Breaker, it is a Loa possessed zombie. It is
Azaka!”

Jimmy shakes his head. “We should head toward the building,
fast!” He calls out to the group. “Alright, everyone listen to me, I want you
to get out of here, move as fast as you can. OhAy come and help Amy, we will
have to take her with us.” He looks at the four soldiers. “We have to get to
the building, as quickly as possible.”

One of the soldiers yells back to him. “The building is at
least half of a mile away.”

“Actually it is just under half a mile, four and seven
tenths to be exact. Just get on the moving sidewalk and sit down; I can
override the speed controls with my access card, once everyone is on I will crank
it up to 30 miles per hour. That will get us there in just about 46 seconds.”

Everyone gets onboard the sidewalk; Jimmy slides his card
and punches a sequence on the keypad. The conveyor picks up speed immediately.
As the group is being shuttled along, Jimmy touches OhAy’s arm and points.
There are six zombies, in soldier uniforms, trying to walk up the gravely
terrain that the sidewalk is suspended over. They are having no luck, and
appear to be stuck.

“We designed the surrounding area to be unnavigable. Peat
moss and sand footings topped with loose gravel, all on a slight incline. The
first hundred feet or so is solid, after that forget about it. If they do make
it any further, they will hit the quick sand.”

OhAy taps one of the soldiers sitting next to her. “Shoot
those things, in the head.” She looks back at Jimmy, smiling. “I am sure the
quick sand would have got them, but just in case.”

Azaka is just arriving at the helicopter when the shots ring
out. He saw the humans leaving the parking lot, walking toward the building. He
could care less about them right now. He climbs aboard the helicopter and heads
right toward the pilot. Hanuno is still alive, barely, but still alive. Breaker
pulls what he needs out of Hanuno’s brain, then leaves him to die and join the
ranks of his undead army.

He tries to probe one of the zombies from his helicopter
crew, but he cannot find them. That explains the shots he heard. Out of the
corner of his eye, he sees Hanuno moving his right arm, ever so slightly. He
starts toward the dying pilot, and then stops, he sees the pin lying in a
puddle of blood and dives for the door. Azaka hits the ground rolling, as the
helicopter explodes, thanks to the grenade on Hauno’s belt.

At the other end of the sidewalk, Jimmy is swiping his card
again, reversing the direction of the sidewalk, and increasing the speed to 40
miles per hour.
That should keep him away from the building,
he thinks
to himself. The explosion of the helicopter startles him. He looks toward the
parking lot and sees the plumes of dark smoke billowing toward the sky. He
directs his small band into the building lobby, and is just pulling the door
closed, when the sound of an explosion from within the building rings out.

Mike pulls his hand off the knob just as the door begins to
open. The soldiers behind him all have their weapons aimed at the opening door.
In a flash, a blurred figure darts through the opening does a forward
somersault and lands in a perfect kneeling position, sweeping his weapon back
and forth.

Mike calls out, wide eyed. “Captain Hellatoni, is that you?”

Brice answers. “General, Sir you have no idea how glad I am
to see you.”

The soldiers stand down, as the Captain briefs the General.
“Sir, the entire facility is overrun. Somehow that one handed zombie was able
to infect everyone. I lost my whole scouting team. I was able to check the
various levels on the closed circuit system. Those things are everywhere. I
think that the security measures designed to keep people out of the building, made
it impossible for anyone to escape. The explosion you heard was my last trip
wire going off. I rigged up the armory hallway, in case any of those things
came wandering down. I think the whole room must have gone up.”

Mike takes a few minutes to digest what he has just heard.
He is convinced that the building is a loss, and that there is no reason to
pursue advancing any further. “All right, listen up. Based on the status report
from Captain Hellatoni, I have decided that we are going to retreat back
through the tunnel and high tail it to the extraction point.”

One of the soldiers interrupts him. “Sir, excuse me for
interrupting, but I think you need to see this.” The soldier says pointing at a
black and white video monitor.

The monitor is displaying an image from the front security
corridor. It shows Jimmy, OhAy, Amy and four soldiers making their way into the
building.

“Damn it! What the hell are they doing here?” Mike yells
out. “Anyone know if there is a way we can contact them?”

One of the soldiers point to the public address microphone.
“Sir, I think that microphone broadcasts through the entire building. I had
security watch in this bunker one day, and the Officer of the Day used it to
make the daily announcements.”

Mike grabs the microphone. “Jimmy, if you can hear me, stop.
The building is overrun. I am taking my team out through the tunnel. All of you
need to get out of the building.”

On the monitor, Mike sees that the group has come to a stop,
and Jimmy is looking around.

“The camera is over your left shoulder.” Mike says.

Jimmy turns to face the camera. He shakes his head and
mouths the word
NO.

Mike yells into the microphone. “Damn it Jimmy, just get the
hell out of the building. You soldiers, I am giving you a direct order,
evacuate the building and take those three civilians with you, by force if
necessary.”

Jimmy is writing something on his hand when the soldiers
grab him. He pulls away, finishes writing and he holds his hand up to the
camera.
Breaker in parking lot… group of zombies approaching front of
building…no retreat options.

“Son of a bitch!” Mike yells as he slams the microphone down
on the desk. He looks around the room at the small group of soldiers, and then
picks the microphone back up. “Alright, let Mr. Gaston go. Jimmy, we have to
get out of the building and to the rendezvous point, or we are as good as dead.
I want you to sit tight, and I will come and get you.”

Jimmy shakes his head ‘no’. He starts to write on the wall
opposite the camera.

“Jimmy, I can’t read that, the camera is too far away.”
Mike’s voice booms out of the speakers.

Jimmy stops writing and throws the pen across the room. OhAy
approaches one of the soldiers, reaches out and grabs something off of his belt
and enters the view of the camera. She holds up a two way radio and a single
finger, smiles, then hands the radio to Jimmy.

Mike puts the microphone down. “Anyone have a two way?”

“Here you go General.” Captain Hellatoni hands his radio to
the General, as Jimmy’s voice emulates out of it.

“Mike, there is no way we can get out from the front. Even
if we could, we will never make it to the rendezvous point in time. The
President is going to give the go order in less than fifteen minutes. Our only
hope is the bomb shelter.”

“Jimmy, I don’t know if the bomb shelter is an option, there
is no telling how many zombies there are…”

Jimmy cuts him of, frantically waving his hands. “Mike, the bomb
shelter is our only option. All we have to do is make it to an elevator, and
then use our security cards. The zombies could not get down there; nobody else
has the security clearance. Access to the shelter is the only security measure
not overridden automatically. Mike there is an elevator less than 100 feet from
where I am standing. I am taking this group to that elevator, and we are going
to the bomb shelter.” He looks into the camera.

“Captain Hellatoni, do you think we can make it to the
elevator?”

“I think so, General; that explosion probably took out most
of the zombies.”

Mike walks away from the men, peers down the tunnel toward
the outside of the building; he barks into the radio. “Jimmy, go ahead to the
elevator, we are going to try to make it too. Keep the radio on channel one, and
be careful.”

“Mike, we should not have any problem, like I said, all
internal security has been automatically shut down due to the fire alarms. We
can walk right down the hall to the elevator. You guys be careful, see you
there.”

Mike clips the radio to his belt. “Alright, gather around
men. It is no longer a realistic objective to reach the extraction point. Right
now our best bet is to make it to the fallout shelter in the basement. I do not
want any surprises coming in from outside. I want this tunnel closed, and then
we are moving out.”

The soldiers react to follow the General’s orders, closing
the tunnel entrance with a few grenades, and then form up outside in the
hallway, ready to follow Captain Hellatoni to the elevator.