Zombie Attack! Army of the Dead (Book 3) (3 page)

“But I saw them both go down in a hail of bullets,” I protested. “If you brought him back, he'd have bled to death.”

“His twin brother took most of the heavy fire. Joel here had a shattered femur and a bunch of bites. His right leg never did come all the way back, but other than that I had him looking like a shiny new penny for about a week. He told me a lot about you in that time, about how you'd all met up and what happened along the trek to New Lompoc, even how he blamed you for the death of his brother. He was even the one to find your little friend.”

“I went back to the house where you found me,” Sam explained. I stayed crouched down by his side and listened to him tell his sad tale. “I made it, Xander! I got all the way there and locked all the doors, but by then I was really sick. The last thing I remember was passing out on the sofa and having this horrible dream. I was so angry, but also terribly hungry. Joel was in my dream. But I didn't know it was Joel. I didn't recognize him until after I bit him.”

“Oh God,” Felicity moaned, putting her hand on my shoulder. “He turned him back again.”

“I didn't mean to hurt him,” Sam cried, looking guilty. “I didn't know what was happening. I…”

“He got a hold of him good, too,” John laughed. “Blood was spurting everywhere. It was disgusting. I blame the bum leg for him getting changed back to a flesh eater. Since then, Joel's been more like a mascot than anything.”

“It's okay,” I cooed at Sam. “It's not your fault.”

“I tried to apologize when I saw him later in the blue world,” Sam sputtered, his little eyes spilling tears out like a leaky faucet. “But by then, I was just a floating cloud and he was an angry wasp made out of bleeding lemons. He was too heavy to follow me up toward the light.”

“I don't recall seeing a light in my trip,” I said.

“It was so beautiful,” Sam insisted. “All I wanted was to live inside of it where there was no more pain or suffering.”

“Yeah,” John said, jumping in. “Truth is, we almost lost him. I think maybe giving him the whole dose was a little too much for a guy his size, but he made it through like a champ.”

“John said he was going to bring us all back together again,” Sam said, wiping his tears away. “He said he was part of a group of people who were going to fix the world and end the infection. Isn't that wonderful?”

“I'm glad we get to be together again, buddy,” I began, “but I'm not sure John and I want the same thing.”

“Why not? Don't you want things to be okay again?”

“It's a little more complicated than that, Sam,” I sympathized, shaking my head. John had filled the kid’s head full of fantasies that justified him hurting innocent people. Had Sam not seen John's handiwork nailed to the trees around town?

“Actually,” John interrupted, “it doesn't have to be complicated. Trust me, I know how hard it can be to work with your sworn enemies. I never thought I'd see a truce between us and Unity Gang, but in the end it's worked out better than I ever could have imagined.”

“You're both murderers and thieves,” I spat. “You both enjoy killing and hurting other people. What's to argue about?”

“Look,” John said, growing impatient again. “There is an easy way to do this, and a hard way. I'd like to give the easy way a try first, despite your usual ungrateful attitude.”

“I will never work with you,” I said flatly.

“Haki, take young Sam back to his room,” John ordered.
 

“Yes sir,” Haki said, moving forward swiftly and pulling Sam back by his waist.
 

“Wait,” I cried out. “Where are you taking him?”

“Come to think of it, take Xander’s pretty friend along with the little mister to keep him company,” John instructed. I drew my sword.

“Not a chance,” I said, stepping between them.
 

“Now Xander,” John laughed, “I thought we talked about this.”

“She's not leaving my side,” I growled.

“No one will lay a finger on her while we're gone,” John promised. “I give you my word on that. You said you trusted my word, right? Isn't that how you got to keep your shiny toy there?”

“Xander,” Felicity said, gently touching my arm. “It's okay. I'll be okay.”

“I'm not leaving you,” I said, turning and staring into her pleading eyes.

“What other choice do we have right now?” Felicity asked.

I put my sword away. Tank chuckled. John gave him a smug look of satisfaction.

“Well now that we've got that settled,” John sang out, back to his usual cheery self. “Let's take a walk. I'll fill you in on the way.”
 

He threw his arm around me and began guiding me out the door. I looked over my shoulder to see Haki leading Sam and Felicity off to the same building I'd been locked in during my last stay. Tank didn't follow us back outside, which made me way more nervous for some reason, not knowing where he was. No matter what John promised me, I was certain Tank would stop at nothing to get his revenge against me. One way or another things weren't going to end well between us, and I knew it.

CHAPTER TWO

“I find taking a daily walk helps me clear my head,” John said, as we began to march up to where the zombie pits were the last time I was a guest of Bryan Crowe. “I love all this open country out here. Back in New Lompoc, if I wanted to go for a walk I'd have to loop around a bunch of tract homes that all looked the same, plus I'd need an armed escort. Out here all you have to do is let your feet do the walking.”

“So you brought me out here to experience the joys of nature with you?” I asked sarcastically.

“Actually I've got big plans,” John said. “The wheels are already turning, in case you didn't notice. That's where you come in.”

“How's that again? Looks like you've got everything you need here in Ojai to start plenty of trouble,” I said, trying not to picture what terrible fate John had in store for me.

Maybe he's going to hang me publicly as a warning to others not to rebel
, I thought darkly.
Or draw and quarter me. Or worse yet, turn me.

“You're right,” John beamed. “But this is just a small part of a much bigger, more beautiful picture. By the way, your little girlfriend looks awfully familiar. Mind telling me why my men seem to recognize her when she goes past?”

“She was a child movie star,” I shrugged, not really wanting to give him much, but realizing it was just a matter of time before his men started lining up to gawk at her and ask for autographs.

“What's her name again?”

“Felicity Jane,” I mumbled, my mouth going dry at his sudden interest in her.

“Felicity Jane,” he repeated, scratching his chin. “And how do you know her again?”

“She's my wife,” my voice now barely above a whisper. The look in his eyes was terrifying. I no longer feared for what he might do to me. All I could think about was protecting her, even if it was already too late.

“That will do the trick,” John said with a big, evil smile.

“Look man, whatever you're going to do to me, just leave her out of it,” I said, blood rushing to my face as I fought to control myself once again. “If you want to make an example out of me I get it, but Felicity didn't do anything wrong.”

“Oh Xander,” John laughed, shaking his head. “You haven't changed a bit. You know that? Still just as eager as ever to be the big martyr, still first in line to sacrifice himself for some lost cause, and worst of all, still so fully self-absorbed that you think everything is about you.”

“What's that supposed to mean? How is this not about me when you sent people to hunt me down and bring me here?”

“Sure I was hunting you,” John kept on talking. “But not for something as petty as revenge. You think I went through all this trouble just so I could give you to Tank and let him rip your arms off? Is that it?”

“So I'm not here as your present to Tank, wrapped up with a big bow on my head,” I taunted him. “I'm not here to show your men what happens to people who cross you? Is that what you're saying?”

“Yeah, slick,” John said, looking less amused by the second. “That's what I'm saying. And to be clear, Tank owes me a favor for bringing him back from the land of the brain-dead. I don't owe him a damn thing!”

“So why am I here?”

“Ibogaine,” John concluded, “in a nutshell.”

“Why do I know that word, and what does it have to do with me?”

“Everything and nothing,” John said, walking ahead slowly and making me follow him. “Ibogaine is just one of the ingredients to make the antidote. It's a powerful hallucinogenic given to junkies to help them kick, as part of experimental addiction therapy. Before that, it was used by Shamans and medicine men.”

“It was what caused me to have those wild dreams while I was in a coma recovering from my bite,” I recalled, realizing at last what John was talking about. “It's what made me see melting clocks in the desert and dead people from my childhood.”

“I hear it's better than anything synthetic that’s been made up since,” John added. “That's why they use it on the addicts I suppose. It's a trip so hard and heavy you never wanna trip again, a last ride to Psychedelic Town that permanently rewires your consciousness.”

“What does Ibogaine have to do with me again?” I wasn't trying to upset him. I was just genuinely confused at that point.

“Nothing
per se
,” John said. “Except that your brother, Moto, stole the last traces of it from the base and hid it where we can't find it.”

“That's not possible,” I claimed in disbelief. “He told me there isn't a plant anywhere closer than Tijuana, and that no one can get through the hordes down in Mexico to get it.”

“Well then, he either lied or didn't trust you,” John sourly replied. “There was a grow house on the base with several plants coming along, that is until Moto and his accomplice broke in one night and stole them.”

“If that's true, then he's been charged as a criminal,” I interjected.
 

“Not exactly,” replied John. “Moto is smart. I'll give him that. He had his partner pull off the robbery, and then claimed he didn't have any knowledge of it. They found him sitting up in uniform, playing cards, waiting for someone to come question him. He also made it clear that he's not sorry the Ibogaine is missing and that he won't help the military locate new sources.”

“Then he must have a good reason,” I threw out defensively. I didn't like people talking about my brother like he was a criminal.
 

“That's what I think as well,” John said, “but the trouble is that he’s misguided. He's only looking at the here and now. My plans go well into the next decade and beyond.”

“Why does it matter? I mean from what I can see so far it looks like you're building a zombie army, not trying to heal the sick.”

“I need them, Xander,” John admitted. “It's the only way we can turn things back around and restore some version of society. I know it's hard to understand.”

“Then why make the antidote at all?”

“For influence. Think about it. Money is obsolete now. I could pay you a million dollars and you'd trade it for a week's worth of water at the drop of a hat, if push came to shove. Resources, on the other hand, are very valuable, including land and water rights. Ever since Z Day, small kingdoms have been growing across what used to the United States. Mexico already had them in the form of cartels. The rulers of these wild lands all have one thing in common, a whole lot of space and too many zombies. They'd gladly hand over some of it for a way out of this mess.”

“I thought that was what the zombie army was about…,” I paused, “…to march in and take it from them by force.”

“That's shortsighted,” John countered. “Sure, you wanna let them know that you're a serious force to be reckoned with. That's why you march them right up to the edge of the warlord’s territory, to get his attention. Once he's all ears, you make him an offer he can't refuse: the gift of life, of resurrection for him and his loved ones, of a do-over. Everybody's lost someone along the way since Z Day. What if you could bring them back?”

“That's a hell of a sales pitch,” I admitted. “So you trade their land for a few doses of antidote?”

“No,” John said. “That's the best part. We give them a choice. They can either cede the land to us, forfeiting any right to it forever, or they can keep it in their kingdom by agreeing to join our new union and abide by its rules and laws. Nothing changes except, of course, that we can now call on any of their residents at any time for any reason to be conscripted into our service. Usually that kind of thing only happens in times of war, or if there is a betrayal.”

“What if they just give you the land?”

“It hasn't happened so far,” John said. “But hypothetically, they'd get all their antidote at once, as opposed to us holding it in safekeeping for them, which is our usual agreement. Then again, hypothetically, it would also mean that we'd have to wipe that warlord off the face of the map to keep the peace. Truth is, if they knew there was a cure it would only be a matter of time before they attacked us and tried to take it. That's just human nature.”

Not for everyone,
I thought.
Some of us are just happy to be alive without having to mess with other people.

“So the people you've made these deals with haven't been making you give them the antidote right away,” I concluded, putting the pieces together at last.

“That's correct,” he agreed, heading up a dirt incline.

“But they'd have certainly wanted a dose or two to try out,” I continued. “That means you must be running low, which is why you are so desperate to make more. If your warlords discover that you don't actually have the ability to fill their requests when they need them, they're going to lose interest in working with you real fast.”

“Took you a bit, but you got there,” John muttered as he reached the top of the hill and looked down into the valley below. The sun was just starting to set in the west, filling the sky with golden light and pink fluffy clouds. “I love the view up here. It really is amazing. It's like there are never the same two sunsets in a row. You'll see. You're going to stay with us a while. That way your brother will have time to fetch us what he stole, and also let us make some new batches for our allies without causing any problems. Who knows? Maybe in that time you'll start to get a sense of perspective, of history, of purpose. This is the new Manifest Destiny. This is the way forward for the entire human race.”