Contaminated: A Zombie Survival Novel (14 page)

From what he could tell, there were major casualties, but somehow they were coming back to life. He couldn’t make out what was happening, but it appeared they could only be taken down with a shot to the head. He thought of all the uses of whatever it was causing this.

He’d sent in his team and told them to prepare for anything, and for the love of God to wear masks. From what he saw earlier, half of them didn’t listen, though as he looked at the monitor now, he knew of at least one person who did, and they would be the key to his success.

Marshall sat back and waited. A second later, he saw the lights flashing the message he wanted sent. Leaning back in his chair, he thought about the medical implications of a serum that stopped death. Of course, they would have to refine it and work out the kinks, but this was definitely something viable.

With a smile, he pressed the intercom. “Liz, tell the genetics department to work with a powdered form of the samples and find out what Sunset had going on with the tests on Level 14. Have our guys scour the data we piggybacked from their servers.”

“
Yes, sir
,” his assistant answered.

Hooks was an idiot, always had been, and this debacle would be his crowning achievement. His buzzer went off and he swatted it with annoyance. “Yes?”

“
Sir, I think you should turn on the news. Something’s happening in the city East of where the compound is located
.”

Marshall straightened in his chair and used the remote to access the news. On the screen reporters were everywhere, cars on fire, people screaming in the background, and police dressed in riot gear trying to contain the mobs. The bent form of someone biting another could be seen and the realization dawned on him that whatever was in the silo had gotten out. In no time, this would be worldwide and he had no intention of dying.

He stabbed the intercom with urgency. “Liz, I need someone to get on a data analysis for how long it will take to reach New York. I also want you to hire the best company to seal up my yacht. I don’t care what time it is or how much it costs, but I want it done now. I also want a team sent in full gear with masks to help with the extraction of the samples and Dr. Covington. He helped himself to some, very thoughtful of him.”

“
Yes, Sir. Should we set up an evacuation procedure?
”

“When the time comes, ten each of the best electricians, doctors, data analysts, and microbiologists can come with me. The rest can stay in the lab with supplies and seal themselves in. Two teams working on revamping whatever it is they created are better than one.”

“Sir, Mr. Collins is on line one
.
”

“Thank you.” Marshall smiled as he picked up the phone, Hooks was so damn predictable.

With a switch of the button, Marshall spoke, “Collins, we saw on the tapes when his men came in to get you. Everything okay?”

“Yes, sir, I told them exactly what you wanted me to. They are unaware of your ability to collect data from their mainframes.”

“Good, were they suspicious of you?”

“If they were, they didn’t show it. Letting them take me with no fuss also worked to convince them of my story.”

“Wonderful, now get in the safe part of the building. They won’t be able to get you a second time when they realize their mistake.”

“Yes, Mr. Marshall.”

Marshall dislodged the button and went back to watching the train wreck on the television. The situation was out of control. He never expected it to get out. What the hell was Hooks thinking? Didn’t he have some sort of security in place for something like this? Well, okay he knew what security was in place, but the doors should have sealed.

What happened hit him like a punch to the gut. They never assumed something like this would happen, but if it did, the silo was constructed to be self-containing. Problem was Hooks sent in a team, and the only entrance they had was the elevator shaft. More thought was put into how to stop the intruders once they entered, rather than how to keep something in.

He wondered if something similar occurred to his team. There were unexplained explosions that interfered with communications and visual signals. He knew Hooks was locked out, but Marshall’s men made sure he would be okay. But he hadn’t heard from them, or seen them.

Time to make preparations to leave.

Chapter 11 –

Frank pushed open the exit letting his momentum carry him through to the landing. Lightfoot followed by Carson and a loud explosion. All three fell to the ground from the force, but didn’t suffer any serious injuries.

“What the hell was that? A little warning would have been nice,” Carson yelled.

“We’re out, you’re alive, and as far as I see it, you have no reason to be bitching.” Frank stood and checked his SCAR. “Let’s get moving, we don’t have time to waste.” Frank took the steps three at a time to the door of Level 4.

He pulled it open, his mind unprepared for the horrors on the other side.

The silo, designed to be self-sustaining in case of emergency had what they called a “green room.” An entire floor dedicated to growing vegetables and spices, as well as an area where they kept chickens and goats.

The smell of manure was to be expected, the sight of a few of the “greens keepers” also expected. No need to put them down, the security measure on this floor was acid in the sprinkler system. The ground smoldered around the bodies of some of the employees. Special lights managed to stay lit and it illuminated bits of fur and feathers floating around the room.

“Great, what do we have to deal with now?” Carson asked.

Frank took a breath before answering. “Well, we don’t need to worry about any of those things here, but we do have to figure out a way to get across the room before getting soaked with sulphuric acid.”

“You have some serious issues, man,” Carson said.

Frank ignored the comment, but had to agree. The loss of his family had changed him, and not for the better. He tossed out his moral compass and exchanged it for the ability not to give a damn about those he hurt. He wondered if he ever went too far, or if he covered up his loneliness with a few too many drinks to “help” him sleep. Not that it mattered now; they were going to die, so thinking about the past was pointless.

Lightfoot poked his head in front of Frank. “Looks like they set them off, or is this more pressure plate stuff?” he said as he pointed toward the goopy piles of people and animals that once were.

“Worse,” Frank said, “motion sensors, they’ll keep going off.”

Carson kicked the door behind them. “Dammit, you knew we couldn’t get past this level and you made us come down here anyway.”

Frank turned and grabbed Carson. He shoved him against the door and put the full weight of his body into Carson as he pressed. “Listen, you little prick, you used to be a good team member, and then you went and got yourself screwed up on drugs and gambling. I could care less if you make it out of here, but if you do anything to jeopardize my life, or screw this mission up, I will put you in the ground myself. Got me?”

Frank didn’t ease his hold until Carson nodded imperceptibly. Frank made sure to watch him for a few seconds in case the guy tried to take him from behind. When it seemed he was going to do as told, Frank went back to surveying the room.

When he designed this particular deterrent, he’d just returned from installing a security system for his boss in which he wanted thieves to be marked permanently in some way so they could be tracked down no matter how long it took.

Frank came up with the idea of acid, and it morphed into what he looked at now. Who would think the most dangerous level to breach in a secret compound would be where they grew carrots. He made sure to leave a wide gap of eight feet in front of each door so the person or persons entering would feel safe. Once the system was triggered, those sprayed would panic and essentially run over those behind them in an effort to get out. Though it wouldn’t matter, after being set off, the sprinklers hit every square inch of the floor.

All he needed to remember was the safety mechanism. They installed one when doing this level, because the first time it malfunctioned, they had a hard time explaining to certain people why their husband or wife who did agricultural work, died under mysterious circumstances and needed to be cremated.

For the first time, he cursed his standards. When they installed the mechanism and programmed the code, he asked not to be made aware of them because he didn’t want to risk being a security breach. At this moment, Frank would have given anything to go back in time and let the designers tell him.

“I’m not asking to piss you off, but is he right? Is there no way to get across this one?” Lightfoot asked in a quiet voice.

“There’s always a way. Fool proof doesn’t exist.” Frank eyed the area closest to him taking in everything, looking for a hidden panel or a switch that didn’t belong. Nothing stuck out and he growled in frustration.

Frank took another step forward, still within the eight-foot area. Emergency lights were on, but there was additional lighting for some reason. Could be part of the motion sensor system, or the indicator needed to determine where they were. He glanced up at the rows of plastic covered halogen tubes and wondered.

“Lightfoot, give me a lift, would you?” Frank asked.

A second later, he was kneeling on the shoulders of Lightfoot tearing off the light covering. Sure enough, he found a security panel inside. A keypad waited for him to plug in the right set of numbers to deactivate the system.

Frank knew time was of the essence, but he didn’t know how many tries he had before the sprinklers went off. Maybe, just one time or three, he didn’t know. He should have asked to kneel on Carson’s shoulders and told Lightfoot to wait in the hallway. However, Carson would probably drop him.

Frank opted to keep his worries to himself and punched in his employee ID as if he knew the solution. A red dot appeared and the silver colored sprinklers lowered from the ceiling.

Frank slipped a bit. “Try to keep it steady, Lightfoot, or we’re all going to be turned into human soup.”

The screen cleared and he punched in his passcode for entry to high security floors. Another red light and the little spur like heads started to spin. There were three bulbs; he knew one more wrong guess and they were toast.

“Get down from there before you kill us all. I don’t give a damn about this mission, but right now the only one jeopardizing it is you,” Carson yelled.

Frank went to punch in another number when a voice called out to them.

“Wait, I know the code,” a muffled female voice echoed from somewhere.

Frank pulled his FNP and almost fell off Lightfoot, who in the meantime tried not to drop his boss while drawing his M4.

“Who the hell are you, and more importantly, where the hell are you?” Frank demanded.

“I’m in the storage shed, last structure on the right. My name is Selena Harrison.”

Frank didn’t trust her. Someone appearing out of nowhere with the code, not to mention she survived the acid spray, reeked of a set-up.

“Anyone else in there with you?” Frank asked as he jumped off Lightfoot’s shoulders.

“It’s just me, I think the acid killed all of those… things…and the animals too,” Selena said with sadness.

Frank huddled with Carson and Lightfoot. “I don’t know if we can trust her, seems off to me. What do you guys think?” Frank asked, more interested in Lightfoot’s opinion.

“We don’t have a choice. I don’t see why she would lie to us. She’d be stuck in here when the acid started to spray again if she gave us the wrong set of numbers,” Lightfoot pointed out.

Frank didn’t mention the woman wouldn’t know the code if she worked in the agricultural area. Either Selena was part of the higher echelon of Sunset Inc., or she was something else altogether.

“Alright, give me the code,” Frank yelled as he hefted himself back onto Lightfoot’s shoulders.

Selena called out, “Four, seven, three, eight.”

Frank keyed them in and watched the red dots turn green and the acid sprayers return to their spot in the ceiling. He jumped down with his FNP at the ready. Carson and Lightfoot followed his lead.

“Ms. Williams, step out, please.” Frank aimed at the structure she claimed to be in.

The men waited a few moments as they heard several loud sounds and grunts come from the general direction of the remnants of the building. They watched as a tall woman with red hair and a gas mask came out of the room with her hands raised. She wore a black skirt that ended right above her knees and a white lab coat over an ivory colored blouse. Something about the way she moved set Frank on edge. She had a little too much confidence for someone who sounded so scared a few moments ago. He ignored the part of him admiring her figure.

“I’m not armed, so you can put your weapons down,” she said.

Frank pretended he didn’t hear her comment. He walked forward and as he neared the middle of the room, he saw half-eaten carcasses of animals in some of the structures in which the acid hadn’t melted the roof away entirely. This upset him; if he ever used this technique again, he would use a stronger substance so there was no chance of survival. For all he knew, there was an army of infiltrators waiting to jump out at him. He peered over his shoulder and motioned for Lightfoot to check things out.

When Frank was three feet from the woman, he realized she didn’t have any dirt on her, but several smudges of something black, like soot. Her fingers and nails were bloody and torn, and for the life of him, he had no explanation for his desire to tend to them. Women, he’d always been a sucker for a damsel in distress. The fact this particular one might be waiting for him to get close enough to stab him was an afterthought.

“What happened to your hands?” Frank asked.

“When the place went into lockdown we tried to calm the animals, but they were acting strange…like they were afraid of us. Then Charlie turned to me, threw up blood, fell to the ground, and convulsed. Mary and I went over to help. We thought he was having a seizure or something. He bit her and all of a sudden, Glenn came lumbering after us. We tried to run away, but Mary started to shake and stumbled to the ground grabbing her stomach.” Selena seemed lost in thought, so Frank gave her a moment before urging her to continue.