Z-Boat (Book 2): Z-Topia Read online

  “Dammit,” he murmured to himself. “I don’t have time for this crap.”

  Trevor tapped the implant. “Connect Hank.”

  A burst of static but nothing else. Trevor ran to the back of the building to see if perhaps Hank was waiting there. Ever since they brought this guy on board they’d been running into problems, missions going wrong, items not working correctly. He and Charlie agreed to keep an eye on him when they discovered information he might be a spy.

  Trevor was convinced the guy was a spy from Richards, but Charlie suspected something more sinister. The back alley clear, Trevor shook his head in annoyance, he knew something would go wrong with this mission.

  “Hey, Trevor, over here. You finished?”

  Trevor saw Hank by a dumpster toward the side of the building, he was out of breath and his eyes darted around like a trapped animal.

  “Where the hell were you? I tried contacting you.”

  “My implant hasn’t been working, I need to get it checked out.”

  “You know the rules, always stay in contact, where the hell did you go?”

  “I’ll tell you about it on the way, let’s go or we’re going to blow the mission.”

  Trevor seethed with anger, who the hell did this guy think he was? Trevor was his superior, no way did he have the right to talk to him that way.

  “Hank, let’s get one thing straight right now. I’m your boss, you do what I tell you. Charlie may cut you slack, but it doesn’t mean I will. Now tell me where the hell you were.”

  Hank shrugged and walked away. Trevor knew they didn’t have time to hash it out, and kicking the crap out of the guy would be pointless. He ran ahead, but made a mental note to tell Charlie about the missing time.

  * * *

  Ally woke to the sound of screaming. She sat up despite the pain and reached under her pillow instinctively looking for her gun. A second later she remembered everything, she was in the sick bay of a sub.

  The cot next to her held a woman covered in blood, Carl was trying to get a needle in her arm, but wasn’t strong enough to hold her down. The woman from before dressed in drab colors came over to help, and the woman on the cot shoved her across the room with a violent blow.

  “Dammit, calm down. I need to take you back, study you.”

  The comment caught Ally’s attention. She slipped out of her cot, the commotion a perfect cover. She used the side bars for additional balance, still not at full strength. Almost falling onto the chair she pushed her things to the side and looked through her clothes. She found her boot and looked in the tongue where she’d cut out a bit of the lining for hiding small items. The chip was still there.

  Ally stuck it back in, figuring it was a safe place, no one had looked there during the week she’d been there. Pulling on her pants she kept an eye on the situation, listening to the doctor. Something about what he said gave her the creepy crawlies, and her grandfather told her to pay attention to things like that. They might save your life one day.

  “Karen, get off your ass and get over here. We need to get her strapped in, if we bring back a fresh one there’s a million dollar bonus from Mr. Williams.”

  “Doctor, I don’t care about the money anymore, this is wrong. Look at her, no one should be allowed to live in that condition, and what you’ve collected down below is wrong.”

  Carl turned on her. Ally could see the fury in his eyes. His voice no longer held the serenity and calm it exuded toward her earlier.

  “Do what I tell you, or I’ll feed you to them. They are getting kind of hungry.”

  Ally, finally dressed, searched for her gun knowing it would be gone. Whatever this sub was supposed to do, she didn’t think zombie collection was part of it. Who would be crazy enough to do that? She wondered if perhaps all doctors were bonkers. The last one she dealt with tried to kill her, steal the submersible, and then came after her as a zombie.

  Standing on stronger legs, Ally glanced around the room and saw a syringe full of something clear. She picked it up, not caring what was inside. Pushing the plunger she emptied it then pulled it back out. A needle full of air was something no one wanted jammed into them. Ally mustered what strength she could and yelled out to the doctor.

  “Hey, mad doctor guy. I’d like a word.”

  Carl turned, an annoyed expression on his face. Karen cowered on the other side of the cot. Ally was happy her current location put her between the evil duo and the door.

  “You don’t understand Ally, let me explain.”

  Ally cocked her head to the side. “You don’t know jack about me, what I’ve been through, or what my experience is with zombies. If you’re collecting them, you’re a sick bastard, and if it’s for money you’re a pathetic sick bastard.”

  “The money is only part of it. Some guy sent me a message. Told me to gather whatever I found from specific coordinates in the ocean. We were about to give up when we ran into you.”

  Ally shifted her weight to her other foot. “Some guy, no name, no other information? Convenient. Had the same thing happen on the sub I was on, some guy sent a message. He wanted us to rescue some people, and oh yeah there was a bomb on board if we turned around.”

  Carl paled then looked at the moaning woman next to him. Ally realized she’d fully changed, they needed to kill her, she was a zombie for God’s sake.

  “I’m just doing my job, and trying not to get my ass killed. I don’t agree with it, but you know how it is, only the ruthless survive.”

  Ally stared at the nurse. She seemed more afraid of the doctor than the snapping zombie on the cot in front of her.

  “You know those things are a hell of a lot stronger than you think. Better kill her before she goes and eats us all.”

  Carl moved to a protective stance in front of the woman.

  “No, you can’t kill her. Have fun with the ones below deck, but she stays alive.”

  Ally didn’t like the way he hovered over the body. There was something he wasn’t telling her, something important.”

  “What makes her so special? Why do you need to keep this one alive? The fresher the better?”

  “Something like that.” He sneered.

  Ally shook her head. “You do realize whoever you’re dealing with can create the freshest zombie they want by infecting some poor schmuck. They’re using you for something else, and whatever it is won’t end well for you.”

  Carl’s eyes darted around the room. His nervousness confused Ally. A loud moan, the sound of tearing fabric, then a hand appeared holding what looked to be a liver, dripping blood. Ally watched as the doctor looked at the hand protruding from his chest, a look of bewilderment on his face.

  A second later Ally heard the nurse scream and rush for the door. Ally stopped her, almost falling over in the process. She needed an energy bar, stat. The nurse struggled but stopped when the woman on the cot pulled Carl down to her. He gurgled a bit then let out a high pitched scream when his neck was torn out. He didn’t make any noise after that. His esophagus dangled from the mouth of the undead woman. The body of the doctor fell like a piece of limp spaghetti. The zombie smiled at Ally, chewing the doctor bits in her mouth.

  The nurse tried to free herself of Ally’s hold, but even in her weakened state she was stronger than the frail woman. She pinned an arm behind the squirmy woman and lifted.

  “Karen, I don’t want to hurt you, but I will if I have to. I need to take care of those two over there then you’re going to take me to the captain of this sub, got me?”

  The woman nodded. Ally scanned the room for something heavy, sharp, blunt, anything she could kill these damn zombies with. The room, a medical sick bay should have offered her more to work with.

  She dragged the nurse with her, avoiding the gorging corpse even though its eyes had a creepy way of following them around the room.. At most, she had two minutes before Carl rose to say hit and try to eat them. Opening cupboards, drawers, and portable units, the best thing she found was a laser bone saw.
/>   Not her tool of choice, but it would have to do. She walked over to Carl and knelt next to his body. She warmed up the saw and cut across his neck in a quick efficient manner, the smell of burning flesh and splatter of blood made her a bit nauseous. After a long fifty seconds, she stood. The woman would be a challenge.

  “Karen, you’re going to have to help me out here. This one’s going to be a two person job. I’ll hold her down, you cut off the head.” Ally ordered.

  “You… can’t… there’s… I…”

  Ally grabbed the woman and shoved the tool into her hand.

  “This is not up for debate. I hold her down, you cut the head off, unless you’d like to get infected and turn into one of these things.”

  Ally grabbed the torn strap and attempted to tie it back in place, the zombie woman more aware than Ally realized. She stopped chewing and made eye contact with Ally. The thing snapped at Ally and then the nurse with coppery smelling breath, and Ally turned away to try to stem the rising gorge in her throat.

  She gave up on the strap and opted for a new strategy. She grabbed one of the shredded bits of nylon and wrapped it around the zombie’s neck. Once securely in place Ally pulled on it with all her strength, getting the woman flat on her back.

  The zombie kicked and flailed, let out guttural moans, but did not break free. Ally looked at Karen with a motion of her head.

  “Anytime you’re ready, this is no problem for me to maintain or anything. Not like I just woke up from being stranded at sea for weeks. Though if you don’t hurry your ass up, I'll let her bite you.”

  Karen snapped out of her stupor and cut through the neck, the farther she got the more anger the timid nurse let out. By the time she finished tears ran down her face, as she stared at the bloody mess on the cot.

  “She was my friend, his wife, and he let this happen to her.”

  Ally let go of the strap and wiped the gore from her skin. Karen walked over to the cabinets and grabbed a metal tube. She sprayed herself then tossed it to Ally.

  “Use this.”

  Ally looked down and saw it was some sort of industrial strength cleanser. She raised an eyebrow but did as told. Maybe they’d made some discoveries while she was hanging out in a raft.

  Chapter Four—

  Charlie pushed a shattered head to the side as he trudged through piles of corpses and snow. A thick greenish substance oozed out of many of the bodies forming a river of sorts. He stared at it and shivered, if he was the paranoid sort he might think it was trying to come toward him.

  “All right, Roger, Jack, Mona, let’s go. Keep your guns loaded. I’m not taking any chances we get caught in another situation like this. If we run into anyone with a pulse, take them down and make sure they can’t radio for help.” He gave each of them a meaningful look, they’d never killed unless necessary, but this situation was different.

  Charlie led them on. He glanced at the display on his wrist. They were forty-three minutes behind schedule, they needed to pick up the pace if they were going to make it in there during shift change for the guards.

  He tapped his implant. “Trevor, how are things going? We made it, but are running behind, going to try to hoof it to make up lost time.”

  “Things are good, took care of the families, found out about some friends, about to go and take care of them. We’ll meet you at the rendezvous point. Place is a ghost town, zombies everywhere, no police presence, watch your back.”

  Charlie picked up the pace, he didn’t like the way things were going. Seemed like the media neglected to report just how severe the outbreak was in Europe. The closer they got to their destination the more roaming dead they encountered.

  A zombie would pop out at them, or lumber in from somewhere, but they were dispatched with ease. Despite the cold, when the building was in sight Charlie and his team were covered in sweat. Running through several feet of snow with packs full of explosives had that effect.

  Charlie motioned with his hand for the others to slow down. The structure stood two hundred feet in front of them. He surveyed the area from side to side several times, both with his eyes and with a set of infrared glasses he flipped down over his mask.

  Nothing with a heat signature moved outside, but inside a few bodies on the main floor, and several on the second floor. Charlie assumed the guards were attempting to protect the building, and gather the scientists.

  He took a deep breath to calm his racing heart. He moved forward, his team followed close behind. Shots rang out and Mona took out the guards walking the perimeter. Charlie approached one of them hoping his gear would camouflage him at this distance. He searched the body until he found what he needed.

  Moving forward once again, firing an EMP blast to take out the cameras, they approached the entrance. He slid the guard’s identification tag through the slot, saving them a lot of time, the door slid open. Phase one of the plan finished, now for phase two.

  “Roger, Mona, you go and deal with the scientists. Jack I want you to plant the G-Tex at all the places located on this map. We’ll meet out front in twenty minutes.”

  “Wait, what are you going to do?” Mona wore a nervous expression.

  “Don’t worry, nothing crazy. I just need to gather some information, and we don’t have the time to spare.”

  The group split up and Charlie headed for the stairway, he had fifteen flights of stairs to climb, data control centers to hack, all the while dealing with guards and/or zombies. Sometimes he wondered why he did what he did.

  Looking at the number on the wall he had six floors left to go. He pumped his legs harder and when he hit the door for fifteen, burst through, his gun raised, ready to take out anything attempting to stop him.

  Instead, the place looked like some sort of blood sacrifice had taken place there. The secretary hung over her desk, head ripped clear off, as well as an arm. Her intestines stretched down the hallway and disappeared into an office. Further down the hall he found a guard, chest cavity gaping open, spine missing. The body twitched, and Charlie just about had a heart attack when the man opened its mouth.

  The poor wretch, taking pity on it he stomped on its head with his boot, surprised when it slid down the side removing half the man’s face. Not wanting to make any noise he grabbed his knife from its sheath and jammed it as far in the left eye socket as he could. He forgot how strong they were when fresh. He peered around the corner to where Henry Williams’s office should be. Bloody handprints decorated both sides of the door. Charlie examined it closely, looked like something broke out of the office.

  Mr. Williams got what was coming to him after all, Charlie thought with a smile. He raced inside and headed to the desk and stuck his decryption key in the data panel on the left side. All of the information this firm had ever gathered would be on it. One part of a holy trinity of knowledge that would help him take the rest down, and hopefully rebuild the tattered world they lived in.

  The light on the stick indicated the download was at the halfway mark when the zombie entered the office, an organ of some kind dangling from its mouth, the front of its shirt covered with squashed bits of brain and flesh. Charlie recognized Henry Williams even with a blood encrusted shell covering him.

  * * *

  Ally forced Karen to take her to the captain, though in her experience it tended to be an unearned title. She expected to meet some guy who got his jollies off telling other people what to do and relying on the skills of others to make sure things ran smoothly. The walls of the sub were stained with rust, and so corroded in some areas holes appeared. She thought the Betty Loo had been in bad shape.

  The dank smell of stale water, copper, and something else hung in the air. A loud moan made Ally stop cold. She looked around and saw a hole where the wall met the floor. She got down on her hands and knees and looked in. The odor hit her again as well as the realization of what was on the level below.

  The rotted smell of human flesh assaulted her, and she counted well over two dozen zombies in the holdin
g cell. She stood and looked at Karen.

  “What the hell is that for? Are you people nuts keeping things like them on here?”

  “It’s not like I had a say, I do what they tell me.”

  Ally pushed the woman along, her frustration with the woman’s stupidity bordering on homicidal. They wound around corners, went up two sets of stairs, and ended at a hatch door—shut. She knocked on it, her fist causing the hollow metal to echo loudly. A weathered face appeared in the porthole. He eyed Karen with an inquisitive look then saw Ally and shook his head as he sneered.

  The wheel screeched in protest as the gears turned. Karen stayed rigid and Ally wondered how the captain ran this tub. Thirty seconds later a loud creaking noise as the massive hunk of metal swung open. A man stood there, six foot tall, with a scraggly beard, young eyes, and skin far more wrinkled than it should be for a man his age.

  “What the hell are you doing to my nurse? We plucked your ass out of the ocean minutes before you would’ve died and this is how you repay my kindness? I should toss you back in.”

  Ally let Karen go, his first concern being about a crew member put him on the plus side for now. Not to mention his threat about putting her back in the raft seemed honest. Karen moved into the main room as the man backed up. He stood there like a massive road block, late and unmoving.

  More than familiar with intimidation tactics, Ally stared right back unwilling to back down. Two minutes later the captain relented and moved to the side. She entered into the control room surprised only one other person occupied the area.

  “Now, do you mind telling me what you’re doing in here, and not sick bay?”