Insurgent Z: A Zombie Novel (26 page)

The one who identified himself as Danielson took point and grabbed Mason’s shoulder, bringing him to the ground. Mason felt the plastic straps tightening around his wrists. He didn’t bother to fight it.

“Secure the other two,” Danielson ordered, pointing toward Mitch and Rosella.

Mitch lowered his arms.

“Mitch, don’t fight them. You’ll get us all killed,” Mason said.

“Smart man, here,” Danielson said. “A shame your other friend didn’t use his brains like you do.”

“Yeah, well watching your wife being murdered by the people trusted to save us will make a man snap, I suppose.” Mason didn’t try to hide the sarcastic tone.  

Mitch and Rosella were dragged up front and positioned next to Mason. All three knelt on the ground, their arms restrained. The soldiers walked away, just far enough to where their conversation couldn’t be heard. Mason stared at his two friends.

“I’ll get us out of this. Don’t worry,” Mason said.

“Don’t be stupid. You’ll get killed if you try. Did you see what they did to Sky and Troy?” Rosella said, her face glistened with fresh tears.

“Maybe I can help. Let me distract them, and the two of you make a run for it. I owe you both that much,” Mitch said.

“No, there’re too many of them. Rosella is right. Any attempt would be suicide.”

“Well then, maybe they should just shoot us in the head. Get this over with quick,” Mitch said.

“Why don’t you both stop trying to play Super Ranger and just cooperate with them? It’s the military. We found them. They have to take us to safety, especially when they see we aren’t infected. It’s fucked up, and I’m not making excuses for them, but Skylar was going to turn. While what they did was pretty cold, they did what we probably would have done, and Troy started shooting them. I’m not saying to be nice to them, but they have no reason to harm us so long as we don’t give them a reason to.” 

“I don’t trust them, Rose, but it seems we have no choice,” Mason said.

Mitch reluctantly agreed.

Danielson stepped forward and knelt down. All Mason could see were his eyes hidden behind the wall of plastic from his mask. The soldier spoke in a clear voice, echoing slightly by the built in microphone.

“First, we apologize for what happened to your friends. We knew it was inevitable before the woman turned and attacked us. We couldn’t bring her back to the base in her condition
.
The man identified himself as hostile by firing at us.”

“That happens when you murder someone’s wife,” Mitch said, dryly.

The soldier ignored him. “Now, I need you all to be honest with me. Have any of you been bitten? Do you have any flu-like symptoms? Fever? Headaches? Nausea?”

“Like craving human flesh?” Mitch asked. “Is that a flu symptom?”

“Great, a comedian,” Danielson said. “You all look okay, I guess. We can give you a more thorough examination once we get back to the base. I’m sure our doctors will want to run some tests. What are your names and occupations?” He stared at Mason first.

“I’m Sheriff Mason Guillot, of the Botte Police Department.”

“Rosella Green. I’m a school teacher and part time waitress at the Cast Net Diner.”

“Officer Mitch Blackwell, Assistant Warden at Paradis State Prison.”

“So we have two officers of the law. That should go over well with my superiors,” Danielson said.

“Hey, Danielson,” another soldier yelled, “phone for you.”

“Excuse me for just a second,” Danielson said as he jogged over to the other soldiers.

“Seems like a nice enough guy,” Rosella said.

“He seems like an asshole,” Mason said.

Mitch grunted in agreement.

Danielson walked over and took a satellite phone from the outstretched hands of another soldier. His head nodded to whatever commands he was being given. After a minute had passed, he returned to Mason and the others.

“It appears my superiors are interested in speaking to y’all.”

Mason and Mitch looked at one another. 

“Well then, I suggest you take us to them,” Mason said.  He could feel a surge of adrenaline in his body at the possibility of coming face to face with Hart. That had to be the superior Danielson was referring to. If given the opportunity, he promised it would be the last time Hart saw him.  Danielson stepped back as Mason glared at him.

“Tanner, give our guests something to calm them down, so we can make the transport.”

A soldier stepped forward with a plastic bottle and a white towel. Mason saw the liquid splashing on the cloth and knew what was about to happen. Tanner walked behind him and pressed the cloth firmly against Mason’s face. Mason held his breath as long as he could, but eventually had to breathe. A sharp, sweet chemical smell flooded his senses that made his head to spin. Within seconds, Mason pitched forward, and the world went black.

Chapter 21

Redemption

Fatigue pulled at Mason’s whole being. He remembered experiencing a similar feeling while on the Zero Gravity Ride at the state fair. A group would enter a round room and lean against the wall. The room would start spinning, slowly at first. As the RPMs increased, his body would press harder against the wall. It made him feel like he had doubled or tripled in weight. The skin on his face would pull back and it became hard to breathe. The real thrill happened when the floor fell away from his feet. He stuck to the wall and pretended to be an astronaut in space. He had always wanted to flip over and crawl on the wall like a spider, but didn’t think he had the strength, even if the fair would have allowed such shenanigans.

The metal chair had his butt numb. He wasn’t sure how long they’d been in the room. It was hot. Sweat trickled down his back. Mitch and Rosella appeared to be in much better shape. He didn’t want to admit it, but he suspected his body was going through alcohol withdrawal. It had been many hours since he had a drink.

The scene was all too familiar. A cosmic joke played upon him by a sadistic God or wicked Devil. It didn’t matter which. The outcome was the same. He, Mitch, and Rosella were bound to chairs in an empty room. Just like Webb and Sanderson in Iraq. At least there were no gags involved. That was a taste he would never forget. There was no telling where that filthy rag had been before it was shoved in his mouth.

Mitch’s head swayed back and forth. All hope had drained from him, and it showed on his expressionless face.

Mason had wondered if a guy his age with his background was on any type of medication. He had never spoken to Mitch about the emotional scars he carried from the Vietnam War. If he had, he risked that Mitch would want him to open up too. That was a door he wanted to remain closed.

“What’s going to happen to us?” Rosella hung her head low, shifting her gaze. She tapped both feet rapidly on the floor and rocked gently in anticipation.

“I honestly don’t know. I didn’t expect this type of treatment. This is beyond normal military protocol for civilians. These actions violate the Constitution. Hart either is acting under a Presidential executive order, or has gone rogue and is ignoring the rules of engagement on U. S. soil. Either way, we’re fucked.” Mason felt more despair now than the Iraq incident. Back then, he had been younger, more naive. He had kept his eyes open and his wits about for this ordeal. No matter how hard he tried to stay ahead and complete the mission successfully, something always went awry and thwarted his best efforts. He had been like a mouse in a maze. Every turn he took led the wrong way. It was as if fate worked against him. If there was any truth to predestination, then there was nothing he could do, or could have done to save his town and the people he had come to love.

What was the point of trying any longer? He would have been better off if he had been eaten by Ryn in the beginning. He wouldn’t have the pain of shooting Ruth or Cotton, or seeing Barry’s head explode from Troy’s shotgun. The pain in his heart from watching Skylar and Troy fall to the onslaught of U. S. Army bullets would have never happened. Rosella would have remained a spark in his memory, perhaps providing a sense of hope that would have comforted him for the rest of eternity.

Their blood was on his hands. All of them. The townspeople too. Just like Webb and Sanderson. He had become a catalyst for destruction. An agent of death. Perhaps, he was no better than a Jim Jones leading his followers to destruction. Mason had been a Judas goat leading innocent sheep to slaughter. A Typhoid Mary that spread death while being spared from the same fate. He had never felt more worthless in his life.

“Mason?”

Rosella’s voice pulled him from his funk. “What?”

“I want to tell you something. Mitch, too.”

“You can tell me, Rosella. Anything. I know what a fuckup I’ve been. I’m man enough to own up to it.”

“Me, too.” Mitch turned weary eyes to his daughter. “I don’t know what words I could use to tell you all the feelings I have inside. Everything I’ve gone through, or where I thought my life was headed was all meaningless when I think back on it. Selfish on my part. All you had asked from me was just to be there for you. I couldn’t even do that. I ran. I hid. I wallowed in self-pity. There are no excuses that would mean anything to you, because none of them mean anything to me anymore.”

“Look, you two. We’re probably all about to die. I’ve accepted it. I didn’t want to pass into the next world without a clear conscious. Mason?”

“Yes.”

“Thank you. Thank you for trying. You saved me. You risked your life and put it in harm’s way for the others, and me, never once thinking of yourself. It takes a special man to do that.” She smiled, and a tear ran down her cheek. “I’m sorry we never got to go on that date.”

Mason took a deep breath. “Me too.”

“Mitch?” Rosella paused, and spoke in a soft voice. “Daddy?”

Mitch broke into tears.

“I forgive you. I forgive you for everything. I couldn’t have begun to understand your problems when I was a child, but I didn’t even try when I became an adult. That’s my fault. It was petty of me to act that way. Please forgive me.”

Mitch sobbed louder. Tears streamed down his face as he shook his head. “No, baby . . . no . . .”

Muffled voices came from outside the door. Mason straightened in his chair and put on whatever game face he had left. Rosella closed her eyes as if preparing for a blow. Mitch clenched his teeth, his eyes shut tight.

The door opened. A soldier led with his pistol into the room. Hart followed and closed the door. He held a small ice chest by its plastic handle. He set it on a counter underneath a wall of cabinets, the only furniture in the room other than the chairs the three captives were strapped to.

Hart frowned when he saw Mitch in his meltdown, and lifted his brow as his gaze drifted to Rosella. He turned to Mason. “I expected to see you chewing your arm off to get out of your bonds. You look like a schoolboy at his first day in class. What’s the matter, Mason? You used to be a warrior that would never give up. You used to be an Army Ranger.”  

A slight grin grew across Mason’s mouth and widened. Something in Rosella’s words had unlocked a pathway in his mind. A veil had been lifted which allowed him to see the situation clearly for what it was. “You say that like it’s something to be proud of.”

Hart’s head jerked back slightly, as if he had just been slapped. “Are you disrespecting the United States Army?”

“You know, Hart, I’ve had a lot of time to think about my stint in the Army, and what it means to be in the service of my country. It was all one big fat lie.” Mason spoke his words slowly, lacing them with disgust. “I remember the oath I took when I signed up. You took that same oath. ‘I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic. I will obey the orders of the President and the orders of the officers appointed over me. So help me God.’ The military is just a bunch of power-hungry little men dressed in shiny clothing that like to pin pretty bows and ribbons on their chests. My enlistment did nothing to preserve the Constitution. Look around, you’ve got three civilians imprisoned. So much for your precious Constitution.”

Hart’s upper lip quivered. “You don’t understand. The military is the real ruling power of the country. The Constitution is just a piece of paper made by military men two hundred years ago to establish control over the states. The president, governors, and congress are puppets that do our bidding. People feel a need to rise against authority. We are the real authority. That’s why we hide in the background while the politicians get all the blame. They get handsomely paid for it. Bush didn’t call the Iraq War. The military did. Afghanistan? Heroin production has never been better. This time we get a cut of the profits. We’re going into Iran next. You call the military a lie, but it’s the purest truth in the world.”

“The military is made of people. You use the pawns on the bottom for your own purpose. You crush them like grapes and get drunk off their blood after a mission is complete. For what? 60,000 Americans died in Vietnam. Countless others had their lives ruined afterward. Suicides, cancer, mental illnesses, along with family break ups and failed marriages. Vietnam fell back into communist hands shortly after we left. It was all just one big fucking waste. What’s going in the Mid-East is the same old shit.”

Hart brought his hands together and cracked his knuckles. “Vietnam had its purpose. We won. The Mid-East is being used to keep Russia and China in line. There’s no need to tell the service men the intent of any mission. The military works because soldiers are trained to take orders without questioning why.”

“I’m through taking orders. So whatever you have planned, you might as well go ahead and get it over with. We’ve had about all the fun we can stand.” Mason licked his lips and watched Hart turn a slight shade of red.

“You’re through taking orders, but then you give one to me? That’s not the way it works.”

“Enough of this shit. Just kill us and get it over with.”

Hart returned to the ice chest, removing a vial and a syringe, and held them up for the three to see. “Your two friends will die soon. How they die is up to you.”

“Stop speaking in riddles.”

“The program to immunize troops against biological agents is a success. Admittedly, the results are slightly different from what we anticipated. There is an aspect of the program that we never made, Cotton, or you, aware of. The Army has created a device that allows us to give orders in real time on the battlefield. It eliminates the free will of the soldier, but allows them to function normally in a survival situation. The vaccine we used to immunize the inmates was never meant to kill. When they died and returned to life, it only made the project more successful.”

“You’re able to control those things?”

“They take orders without a moment’s hesitation. We have created human drones.”

“I thought the military couldn’t slink any lower. I was wrong.”

“If I were you, I wouldn’t be so hard on the program. You’re about to join it.” It was Hart’s turn to smile.

“You son-of-a-bitch. Can’t you find the decency just to kill me? You owe me that!”

The needle penetrated the vial. Hart pulled back on the syringe, filling it halfway with a purple liquid. “My orders were for you to be brought back here alive, if found. I’m not sure why Mitch and Rosella weren’t killed in the field, no offense. You see, Mason, Botte has been infected with a new strain of avian flu. The area is quarantined. Everyone will die, and their bodies will be burned. We’ll count your name among the dead, but you won’t be there. You’ll be fighting again in some hotspot around the world. When you signed up for the military, it was for life. Now, it can be in death, too.” Hart laughed at his own joke.

“Make me one of them and let my daughter go,” Mitch said.

“You’re too old for the program. I’m sorry, but you two have to go anyway. However, I think I know of a way that Mason can redeem himself as a soldier. I’m going to get him to retract his insults and regain his honor.”

“Go fuck yourself, Hart. There’s nothing you can do to ever get me to take orders from you again. Once you kill me, God only knows what will be going on inside my brain. It won’t be me being controlled by you madmen, just my body. With any luck, I’ll get the chance to eat you. Now that I think about it, I am getting hungry.” Mason grinned, baring his teeth.

“Your insubordinate behavior will not be tolerated. Private, cut Mason loose and escort him to me.”

The soldier pulled a knife from his utility belt and went to cut the bonds free.

“Hold on. I’ve got another idea,” Hart said.

“What are you up to?” Mason asked.

“Once I free you, your orders are to step forward and present your arm to receive the injection.”

Mason erupted in uncontrollable laughter, which only increased Hart’s visible ire. “You are so full of shit that you must be deaf and blind. If you’re going to shoot me up, shoot me up. I told you, I’m through taking orders.”

“Private. Position yourself behind the woman and put your blade on her ear.” Hart commanded.

“Sir?” The young man turned toward the Colonel.

“Do as you’re told, soldier.”

The private quickly moved behind Rosella and put the sharp edge of the cold steel on top of her left ear.

Rosella let out a small whimper. Mitch and Mason yelled protests.

“All of you, shut up. Now, Mason, will you follow your orders?”

“If you hurt her I’ll kill you!”

“Cut it off!”

“But, sir—”

“I said cut it off!”

The blade went down and made a small cut into her ear. Rosella screamed. Blood flowed down the side of her face.

“Stop it! Stop it! Stop it! You win, Hart. You win. Get away from her.” Mason strained against his bonds to no avail.

“I’m sorry it had to come to this. I had to find some way to restore your honor as a Ranger.”

“Honor? This has nothing to do with honor. Fuck the Army. Fuck the Rangers. Fuck you too.”

“Private!” Hart yelled.

“Okay. Okay. No more. I’ll follow my orders. I’ll take the shot. Please, leave her alone.”