Emperor of a Dead World (27 page)

“Are you are saying you would agree if they were closer?”

“If they were closer we would have no choice.”

“Guys,” Rudy interrupted, “We need to focus on the creatures.”

“Rudy is right,” Tyrone agreed. “We keep preparing this place as we have been doing. We do not know the things will attack and we do not know they can get over the walls. If they come, we stay inside the shelter and do not try to fight. If they do not see us they will have no reason to hang around.”

“The problem is, we do not know how long they will stay or if they will ever leave once they get here. There is a very good chance we will starve before they do,” Rudy argued.

“Speaking of starving,” Brad smiled. “I am going to lunch.”

Over the next month, they redoubled their efforts on the shelter and intensified their search for weapons. They also stockpiled all the food they could find. While gathering supplies Rudy sent extra guards with the runners and told them to kill as many creatures as possible. In the name of research, they built reinforced cages in one of the stables and placed creatures inside so they could study them and see if they changed or if they would starve. Rudy allowed no one near this building except for special armed guards that he had sworn to secrecy.

While this was going on, Brad sent out some teamsters to get all the gas trucks they could find. He had decided to use Rudy’s plan of burning the creatures. Without much effort, they found six nearly full trucks at stations nearby and parked them in a V formation toward the entrance. They then arranged the cars and trailers in the parking lot so that the creatures would have to pass between the gas trucks to get to the building. Once all this was in place, the engineer, with the help of the pipefitter from Boeing, replaced the hoses on the gas trucks with spray nozzles. He then set up a system that he could operate remotely from the control room to turn on the sprayers. If the creatures attacked, the engineer would soak them with gasoline then ignite it. The trucks were about one hundred yards from the entrance so with a little luck the fire would consume the creatures before they made it over the final barricade in front of the building. As an added safeguard, they installed barbed wire around the entire property. As far as the people were concerned, Brad told them they were fortifying the place against the creatures but did not give all the horrid details.

Chapter 22

While Brad was inspecting all the cuts and scratches he had gotten while helping with the barbed wire, Lisa walked up.

“Do you want a drink of water?” she asked.

“Thanks, I could use a drink.”

“Who are you expecting to attack?”

“I did not want to say anything but I am concerned with the creatures. They are getting faster.”

“Like the one that attacked us?”

“Yes. Before I lost the drone, I saw some coming further south. They are still a long way off but we need to prepare.”

“I thought it might be something like that but I was afraid to ask.”

“It is best that the others do not know about these things. I don’t want anyone losing hope.”

“I understand.”

Suddenly they heard a buzzing sound.

“What is that noise?” he asked.

“Look,” someone shouted. “Up there.”

Brad could not believe it. The drone had returned and was circling above.

“Clear the runway,” he yelled.

“I don’t think that is the same one,” Rudy said as he walked over. “Are you sure it is your friends?”

Brad watched closely as it came in to land. Once it touched down, he ran over as the engine sputtered out. “This one is much larger,” he said. He looked it over and found a note.

“What does it say?” Rudy asked.

Brad opened the note and a flash drive fell out. He picked it up and put it in his pocket then read aloud.

“Dude, nice crash and burn landing,” it began. Brad rolled his eyes and continued. “You should have seen it tumble and roll. It was such a mess that it was not worth my time to fix. When I inspected it, I saw bullet holes in the fuselage, the right wing and one that took out the landing gear. I don’t know how you got it here but it looks like you are getting pretty good at flying. I have watched and recorded most of your flights so I have seen the same things you have. First off, we are keeping an eye on the souped-up zombies. They have been closing in on us for a while but we have a fortress and they will never get through. As far as our drone supply, I have been mass-producing them and I can even drop bombs now. I have also checked on your friends at the lake. They took a few shots at me so I dropped a couple of bombs on their heads. You should have seen those assholes run. This new drone flies like the other but it is bigger and faster. It also has missiles and bombs so be careful. I don’t want you to blow yourself up. I have attached a sheet of instructions. If you want to communicate, open Note Pad and type in your message. I will see it. Watch those landings. Danny.”

“What does he mean by souped-up zombie,” someone asked.

“Up north the creatures are faster than they are down here,” Brad replied. “That is why I am reinforcing the place.”

“Are we safe,” someone else asked.

“This world has not been safe for a long time,” Brad replied as he turned and walked off.

When he got to the control room, he inserted the flash drive into the USB port of his computer and a window popped up asking what he wanted to do. He selected ‘open folder to view files’ and three files appeared. He clicked on the first one and a video of Dennis started.

“Dude, I put a file on the flash so you can watch us just like we watch you. Just click file two and let it load then you will see us live whenever the camera is on. Icons will pop up as the laptop records video. You will probably record a lot of garbage so just delete the video you don’t want. Later dude,” it concluded.

Brad clicked the file mentioned and after it loaded, he installed the application. When he selected play, he saw a video of creatures walking around. After watching for a moment, he clicked file 3 and more software started to load. After he installed this, a window opened for the control of his new drone. He looked over the dashboard and selected camera. A box popped up and he could see the view from the drone. He glanced at the instructions then used the arrow keys to move the camera. A few people were standing around staring at the drone. He moved the mouse over to the speaker tag and double clicked then said, “Back off,” into the laptop microphone and watched everyone take a couple of steps back. “This is fun,” he chuckled. He selected engine start and the propeller spun up causing everyone to move a little further away. After setting the camera straight ahead, he grabbed the joystick and took the drone up. It seemed to handle much better than the other one had. He circled around then headed out for a look around the city. Nothing had really changed. He glanced at the dash and saw he had about four hours of charge. This drone was better in every way. He now banked around and headed for Sunny Park Estates. It only took a couple of minutes and when he got there, he circled above.

“How’s it handle,” Tyrone asked. He, Lisa and Rudy were all watching the screen.

“It handles great and this camera has a lot better zoom than the other one did.” He flew over the pool and zoomed in on a girl in a bikini.

Lisa cleared her throat and said, “It is nice to see they are comfortable there.”

“I need to warn Tom,” Brad said as he brought the drone back. “They may have to join us here. I don’t think it will be safe there.”

“My supply runners are killing about a hundred a day,” Rudy said.

“That is not nearly enough,” Tyrone replied.

Brad flew over Medieval Times. “We need to go there so we can collect swords and shields. It is time to go to war. If we get raw materials, maybe Hank can make weapons. I will teach the guys to fight and we will kill one thousand a day, maybe more. As these things get faster, we will become more proficient.”

“There are too many Brad and they will not stop,” Tyrone argued.  “You will be overrun.”

“What other choice do I have? Hide everyone in a hole like Saddam until we starve?”

“Even if you kill one thousand a day for a year, all you will have done is wasted a year to kill less than four hundred thousand. The population of California is one hundred times that and that is just California.”

“They are not all headed here.”

“Believe me. If you go to war with these things you will lose a lot of men.”

“Maybe I can drive them away.”

“That will not happen,” Rudy objected. “If you create a disturbance you will draw them here. Remember, these things are designed to seek out and destroy the enemy.”

“You are right,” Brad agreed with excitement. “You are very right. If I create a disturbance, they will go toward it. I can steer them with the drone. I can lead them to a place where I can kill them.”

“Now you are on to something,” Tyrone said with a clap of his hands. “Now you have a plan that can do some good.”

“I need to know if they can swim. I need to know if they will drown.”

Tyrone turned to Rudy. “Have your boys get one. It is time for a test.”

“What are you going to do?” Lisa asked nervously.

“Drown one in the pond,” Tyrone said.

“No, you cannot bring one in here.”

Tyrone motioned for Rudy to go.

“No,” Lisa cried. “You cannot do this.”

“It will be alright,” Brad assured her as he brought the drone in for a landing. “Just stay in the room.”

“Are you crazy,” she exclaimed.

“It will not get loose,” Tyrone guaranteed.

“We better tie a heavy anchor around its neck,” Brad added. “It has to stay under so I can time it.”

“We should see if it can swim first,” Tyrone suggested.

“I will get two,” Rudy said as he walked out.

Lisa sat down in disbelief.

“I’m sorry,” Brad said. “I do not have time to mess around.”

Tyrone told all the citizens to go to their rooms until further notice. Once everyone was safe, Rudy’s men brought out the first creature and submerged it with an anchor. After this, two more men brought out another one and threw it into the pond. It flopped and splashed and sank like a rock but was able to walk to shore. They recovered it and checked the first one. Five minutes and it was still fighting. They put the other one back in the pond but this time they stood on the far bank and jumped around. The thing headed for them. Every time its head started to come out of the water, the men ran around to the other side to get its attention. It turned and followed like a mindless fool but unfortunately they could not hold its attention long enough to keep it submerged. Ten minutes passed and the first one stopped moving. They waited another ten minutes then pulled it out. It was dead.

“Great,” Tyrone laughed. “How do we get them all into the pond?”

“Put the anchor around the other for fifteen minutes,” Brad said.

Fifteen minutes later, this one was dead.

“Here is the plan,” Brad began. “We go to Belmont Shore and put one of those long skinny inflatable air dancer things the car dealerships use to attract customers at the end of the pier. Once this is set up we will blow open a hole in the pier. I will then use the drone to lead them down the pier and as they crowd together to get the air-dancer-thing they will push each other through the hole, into the water and drown. With a little luck, they will follow the drone out to sea rather than head back to shore. We should get thousands this way. Just like the pied piper.”

“I guess it can’t hurt but with millions to kill they will eventually walk over each other to get to shore,” Tyrone interjected.

“Always a pessimist,” Brad smiled. “But if this works we can set up every pier along the coast the same way.”

In the morning, the runners got an inflatable air dancer from a local dealership and Rudy grabbed a generator and a couple cans of gas from storage. After this, Brad, Tyrone, Rudy and a self-proclaimed explosives expert headed to Belmont Shore and acquired a small boat. They then used this boat to get to the end of the pier. Once there, Brad and Tyrone went up the ramp at the end of the pier to set up the air dancer while Rudy and the explosives man wrapped a couple of pillars with C4. When the man produced this substance, no one doubted he knew how to use it. After they finished they ran two hundred yards of lead wire so they could blow the pillars from a safe distance. When everything was ready they got as far away from the pier as the lead wire would allow then set off the explosion. As soon as it blew, a large section of the pier, now unsupported, buckled under its own weight and came down creating a huge wave. Brad gunned the boat to get away but when the wave hit, the stern lifted up pitching the bow down. As water began to flood in Brad angled the craft hoping to surf to safety. Everyone held on for dear life and once the sea finally calmed the four drenched men went back and started the generator then headed to the racetrack.

After they got back, Brad flew the drone over the pier and smiled. The motion of the dancer, the noise of the generator and the sound of the explosion had attracted interest. Inspired by his success, he flew over Ocean Ave as low as he dared. When the creatures followed, he went to the beach and circled around. Once he gathered a crowd, he led them to the pier and they headed for the dancer. He now did a few tight circles at the end of the pier to get them moving then buzzed the beach to attract more victims. It took over three hours but the first ones finally reached the opening in the pier. Brad circled around so he could watch but they just stood staring up at the drone and did not fall off. In frustration, he headed back to the shore then flew low over their heads as he went back towards the dancer. More and more they came but did not fall. He kept buzzing over to get them to look up until at last the ones in the back pushed the first one over.