The Zombie Letters (37 page)

              “What? Why?”

              “Once they found out what Lynn could do, they decided to include the drug in its black project weapons research program. Doctor Winters had his funding pulled because they wanted the lab under their control. You were just a figurehead to run the place. It is standard protocol with black projects this sensitive. I’m sorry, Miles . . . but you would have disappeared eventually, anyway. Listen to me . . . it’s true. Black project soldiers silence people all the time. I’ve done it myself. Due to an incident when I was stationed in Afghanistan, I gained an ‘A’ clearance. This is the highest clearance that the military can give. It isn’t even on the books. Lynn destroyed the world, though . . . and after all I have done for my country, they want me dead right along with you. What I did in the past was wrong, Miles. I need to make amends for it. Now that I know what it’s like to be on the other end of this, everything’s changed.”

              “Jesus . . . I feel sick to my stomach. Would you have done it? I mean . . . really done it? Killed us? Your friends?”

              “You want my honest answer? Yes. Yes, I would have. Sorry to tell you that, but yes. I’m a rare breed of soldier. You may think of me evil or selfish for only re-examining my actions when I’m on the chopping block . . . maybe I am. I can admit that. What’s important is that at least I
did.
”

              Darin felt weak. He plopped down and sat in the moist dirt and placed his head in his hands. “Oh, god . . . what the hell are we going to do?”

              “We do exactly what we’re supposed to do. We play along like nothing’s going on. They’re not gonna shoot all of us on-site. If I know these people as well as I think I do, this operation needs to go off without a hitch. I brought something with me that they didn’t know about. Those gas canisters that the team has? They’re all just water
-v
apor
.
I had someone on the inside that helped me out and switched them for me.”

              “Who?”

              “Amanda Jackson. She was working with the volunteers to manufacture the canisters. She helped me secure a handful of the real ones and give the team nothing but duds. I snuck the working ones onboard. They’re taped to the inside of my ruck. The bunker also has a supply of them on-hand. After explaining what was
really
going on, she helped me do something else with the canisters at the bunker. I’ll take care of
that
situation after we focus on what’s going on here. Now . . . we have one hour left on watch. We cannot afford to wake all the others without the other team members hearing. It’s just you and me right now.”

              “There’s a whole army over at that base, Powers. You have some sort of plan?”

              “As a matter of fact, I do.”

              “What is it?”

              “Just cause a scene, Miles. That’s all I want you to do. Give the squad leader no choice. I’ll take it from there.”

II

              The next day, they hiked to the large base built around the forested area. It was absolutely massive . . . going around the entire mountain. “What the hell’s going on?” Dennis said as they neared the facility. “Why are we walking right up to the front gate?”

              “Hey!” Darin yelled at the squad leader. He ran to the front of the small platoon and grabbed him by the shoulder, digging his hand in as hard as he could. Miles knew that the commander didn’t like him at all. Hopefully this was enough to piss him off. The team leader, a SEAL named Doggett, turned around with his gun drawn and pointed at Victoria’s head. Darin lowered his hand and snuck it around to the holster at his leg.

              “Don’t . . .” Doggett said and cocked the gun.

              “What the hell’s going on here, asshole?” Darin said to Doggett.

              “This is the end of the line. The plants go back with us.”

              “You sons of bitches . . .” Ana said. “I should have known something was up. You think we’re just going to help you take these things back?”

              “Who said
you
were going back?” Lieutenant Powers interrupted. He walked to the front of the mutiny held back by gunpoint. Powers drew his service pistol and pointed at the two Japanese guides while the other arm trained the weapon on Darin Miles. “Get two of your men from the base and bring them here. We need assistance. Doggett, I’ll take the survivors. You take care of the mission and I’ll catch up.”

              “That’s not the orders I were given, Lieutenant. My orders were to get them to assist and neutralize them. Myself.” He still had his gun drawn at Victoria’s head. She stood frozen, scared to even breathe. This guy was nobody even remotely normal. This man was former Special Forces. If he wanted to kill her, he didn’t even
need
the gun.

              “Circumstances have changed. If you hadn’t drawn your goddamn pistol before we actually
arrived
at the gate, I wouldn’t have offered. Instead of getting all of us in the compound by all means available, you draw your weapon and expose all of us within running distance of the front door? Teel told you to wait until we all got inside. You know how he is. You just disobeyed a direct order on a black project mission, my friend. You know what happens next. Commander Doggett . . . let me take them. We can say anything we want. You were in Vietnam, man . . . don’t fucking tell me for a second that you never disobeyed orders to save your own ass.”

              “You threatening me, Powers?” Doggett said, shooting Powers a hateful glance.

              “Not threatening. Just being realistic.”

              Doggett smiled. To anyone, the smile would be strange, but largely unreadable. Powers knew why he was smiling. Doggett knew for a fact that Lieutenant Alexander Powers wasn’t going anywhere. He’d say yes just out of sheer spite. “Fine. Take them. And do it
quietly.
”

              “Yes, sir.”

              A handful of armed men rushed into the woods to greet the team sent by Teel. The second they got there, they all trained their weapons on the four survivors. Powers walked to Darin, Victoria, Dennis and Ana and took away their guns. Doggett insisted that two men from the base accompany Lieutenant Powers. While Teel’s team walked to the base, two Japanese army stayed behind and kept their guns drawn on the four. Darin tried the best he could to play along. A fear crept into him . . . that Powers was just blowing smoke up his ass to see what he knew. What if Powers really did want to kill them? As the Special Forces team walked off, Doggett turned around and saluted Powers. Powers returned it and stood behind the two Japanese guards. “You men speak English?” he said.

              “Yes we do,” one of the guards replied.

              “Good, then you can follow orders.”

              “Why, Alex?” Dennis said. The survivors all stood . . . not moving a muscle. Even Darin looked frightened.

              “Why, Dennis? Because you know too much. Simple as that. There are plans for those plants and unfortunately, you are not a part of them. Guards . . . give me one of your guns. I’ll do this myself.”

              One of the men handed Alexander Powers his hand-cannon and stepped to the side. Alexander Powers raised the weapon in Ana’s direction. She closed her eyes tight and whispered to him.
Please . . . please . . . don’t kill me. I don’t want . . .
Powers turned the gun to his left side and shot the Japanese guard in the head. The one that still had
his
gun. He fell to the ground and dropped the weapon. The survivors stood in shock, but Darin was waiting for this moment. Well . . . more
hoping
for it than anything. He lunged forward and grabbed the weapon. That gun was fucking huge. Probably the size of a .44 Magnum. Darin and Powers both turned to face the other guard, who had taken off running toward the base. It could barely be seen from where they stood. The base sat right at the edge of the treeline . . .
where the people that built the place cleared out a section of the forest
. Alexander Powers fired one shot and hit the man in the calf. He screamed and stumbled to the ground, landing in a muddy puddle. Struggling to get to his feet, he finally managed to stand up, but another bullet fired from Alexander Power’s weapon hit him in the lower back, keeping him down.

              Ana opened her tear-filled eyes and looked for the two guards. One was dead at her feet, bleeding from a large hole at his temple. The other was attempting to crawl away toward the base . . . just barely out of earshot. “Stop crawling!” Powers yelled after him. “I know you can understand me!
STOP
crawling!” The man managed to get to his feet and continue to lurch forward, screaming himself hoarse. With a look of sad disappointment, Powers fired another round. No one saw where it hit . . . he was a good distance away, but it dropped him still and silent immediately. “I didn’t want to shoot him,” Powers said, reloading the gun.

              “Would
you
have stopped?” Darin said.

              “I suppose not.”

              “What the hell’s going on?” Victoria yelled at Lieutenant Powers. She walked up to him and shoved him into a tree. He hit it with his back, but she was on him before he had a chance to react. She got in his face, inches from it, and stared him down. “What is going on . . .”

              “I couldn’t say anything to all of you. Darin knew, but we couldn’t risk anything getting mucked up. It is obvious, isn’t it? They were supposed to kill us. Teel . . . I knew
something
was going on.”

              “What are we gonna do?” Dennis asked, staring across the forest to the base entrance ahead.

              “I lifted five live canisters from the bunker before we left. Teel has always hated me. Couldn’t wait for a chance to do me in. I got to him first, though,” Powers said.

              “Where did you get the canisters?” Ana and Victoria said nearly in unison.

              “A friend. Your wife, Dennis. When I told her what Teel was planning to do to us, she said she wanted to help any way she could. The team with us has Lynn bombs, but they were all switched out with duds. As for the ones who double-crossed us, don’t worry about them. I took care of the bunker before all the volunteers and relief teams left, too. The only people left there are the ones who are behind this. The black project division. You know the Lynn canisters they have to defend the bunker? That was their only defense, right? I had Amanda toss them into the fucking garbage incinerator before she left. Now, all they have at the bunker are empty cases. I did something
else
too.”

              “
What
did you do?”

              Powers smiled and tossed Darin one of the live Lynn canisters. “I returned a favor.” He looked at his watch and smiled. “Open sesame.”

III

              “Any report back from the team yet?” Teel said over the small radio attached to the console.

              “Not yet, sir. Waiting on it now.”

              “It’s been too long. I should have gotten a report back already.”

              A light turned on from within the many lights on the security console. This room controlled all the doors, locks and many of the life support systems at the bunker. General Teel flipped up the clear housing switch and moved it. Nothing happened. From somewhere off in the distance, the General could hear an alarm going off. He leaned into the console and tried the alarm switch again . . . now pulsing red. “Sims! What the hell is going on down there? I’m getting an alarm at the Blue Sector entrance!”

              The radio buzzed to life, but all Teel could hear was static.

              “Hey! Anyone read me?”

              It wasn’t until Teel saw one of his men, an Ensign Trillo, run past him with his hands covered in blood. “Breach! We got a breach! The loading areas, the emergency exits, all of them  . . . they just OPENED!!” The young, bloody man ran off in a panic, not apparently aiming anywhere. Teel grabbed his sidearm and opened the little clear cover the housed the main lockdown switch. Something appeared to be taped inside. Teel ripped off the little plastic cover and saw that someone had stuffed a piece of paper inside. Unfolding it, The General’s eyes widened when he looked at the piece of paper. It just had a signature on it. Powers’ signature.

              “Jesus . . .” Teel whispered and ran into the hallway outside. On either side of the hall, about as far as the eye could see, were the living areas. They were all empty now. There was a case of the canisters placed there . . . but they were gone. Teel ran up to one of the wall-mounted containers that contained Lynn canisters and masks, but found only another slip of paper with a signature on it. One of the medical personnel walked straight into the General, nearly knocking him over. He was carrying something in his hands. Teel looked down to see that the man had been crudely cut open, nearly in half. He was holding his guts together. The man walked with a million-yard-stare on his face with his intestines running in between his fingers. He made it about halfway down the hallway and collapsed, losing his grip on his stomach. Everything fell to the freshly-waxed floor and the man turned over on his side . . . hollowed out at the torso.