Outbreak (Book 3): Endplay Read online

  “What are we going to do?” Murphy asked.

  “We certainly won’t be driving out of here!” Greg yelled back. “That’s for damn sure!”

  “Looks like we’re trapped inside this energy wall,” Riker said. “We need to gather up supplies and find somewhere safe.”

  “Sounds good,” Braden said, “but I don’t think we’ve got much of a chance at the later part of your plan. Look.”

  Braden pointed out the window to five of the alien-creatures as they approached the destroyed bus.

  “We’re not just rats trapped in a cage,” Murphy said. “We’re rats trapped in a cage with the cats.”

  7

  Thirty Miles Above Earth

  The mothership slowly descended until it hovered thirty miles above the surface of the Earth. The craft glided down as smooth as an air balloon losing its air pressure. The mothership was nothing less than the pinnacle of an advanced alien civilization’s technology.

  The ship’s sensors picked up a concentration of human beings in one location. The scanners isolated the reading to the large vehicle underneath them. The bus, though, wasn’t what they were after.

  The mothership hadn’t planned on showing itself to the humans this soon, but the humans had forced their hand by taking the vials. This early appearance was a straight-up search and recovery mission. As the beam of light emanated from the bottom of the ship and created the twenty-mile-high wall, the ship’s occupants knew they would recover the vials stolen from the scout ship.

  The humans had no place to run.

  Schoepke Springs would be turned into a cemetery.

  A mission that had begun sixty years ago was almost complete. The only thing that stood in the alien’s way of The Convergence was those four vials. Now, though, the humans who had them had nowhere to run.

  For years, the aliens had studied the humans. They were indeed a primitive and violent species, but they were also tenacious. If they believed those vials held a weapon that could be used against the aliens, then they would fight to protect those vials.

  The twenty-mile-high wall of energy wasn’t only meant to trap the humans inside--it also trapped tens of thousands of the alien creatures that’d just emerged from their cocoons. They were hungry, and they were vicious.

  And they knew how important it was to find the vials.

  8

  I-71

  Outskirts of the Town of Spicewood, Texas

  As the man walked along the road, he marveled at the empty cocoons. Since he’d left Austin, he’d been drawn in this direction without ever understanding why.

  Why this direction? he asked. What’s out here?

  The man noticed that the closer he got to the place called “Schoepke Springs,” the more empty cocoons littered the landscape.

  A few miles back, he’d caught a glimpse of one of the newly hatched creatures. “Alien” was the only word he could think of to describe it. There was nothing human-looking about it.

  The creature watched him from a distance and looked on with curiosity. But as curious as the alien-thing was, it dared not approach the man.

  As the man walked, he felt that something watched his every move. That something looked over his shoulder. Before he turned around to check, a large, oval-shaped shadow crept over him. When he looked up, he saw something that, in his other life, he would’ve thought was impossible.

  Hovering above him was the largest object he’d ever seen, yet it hung in the air as effortlessly as a large float during a Thanksgiving Day parade. The thing above him, though, wasn’t there for entertainment and joy.

  He watched as a small panel underneath the ship slid open and a beam of energy crashed to the earth in front of him to create a wall that extended miles into the sky.

  The man looked at the wall of energy and walked toward it. The closer he got, the louder the high-pitched hum was. He picked up a rock and threw it as hard as he could at the wall. There was a small puff of smoke where the rock hit the wall, but the object did nothing to harm the barrier. The man looked around and saw a tire jack near one abandoned car. He picked it up and smashed it into the wall. The wall emitted a high-pitched sound, and a bright light flashed on the point of impact, but the wall remained undamaged.

  I guess I’m in the right place, the man thought, even though he didn’t have a clue as to what it was he was brought here to do.

  The man sat down on the ground and looked up at the structure. Through the haze of the wall, he saw the large sign advertising Schoepke Springs. As he read the sign, he knew that was the place he needed to get to. He just needed to get past the wall.

  9

  Sub-Facility, Schoepke Springs

  The creatures formerly known as Fi and Butsko found each other among the chaos. While the other creatures worked to open the heavy security doors, Fi and Butsko remained near the object. They felt the vibrations of the larger scout ship as it reached out to the mothership.

  They also felt the huge displacement of energy as the mothership created the containment wall around the town of Spicewood. The plan was to scare the humans into leaving their bunker. They would find out about the wall of energy too late and their fellow aliens would get the vials back and wipe out the survivors.

  The Butsko-alien saw how easily the warriors broke through the hatch to the lower level and the first security door. The containment wall may not be needed at all.

  The thought of recovering the vials from the dead human who’d taken them brought a smile to the Butsko-alien’s teeth-filled mouth. He looked at Fi and knew that The Convergence would soon begin.

  A white light shot through the Butsko-alien’s head and blinded him for a split second. It happened so quickly that it caught him off guard, and he temporarily lost his balance. He looked at the Fi-alien and knew she hadn’t just experienced the same thing. What most troubled him was the image that immediately followed the bright light.

  The Butsko-alien was certain he’d seen memories from a different time. A different life. He saw a flash as a man trained troops. He saw a flash as a man fought for his life. He saw a flash as a man detonated a bomb. The visions came and went quicker than a lightning bolt as it struck the earth, but the Butsko-alien felt a familiarity with the man in his visions.

  The visions lingered in his newly formed mind and were as alien in his brain as he was to the Earth. He felt uneasy as he tried to recall more memories of the man in his visions, but the imprints faded away like the flash from a camera.

  The Butsko-alien turned to face the Fi-alien and realized she had been watching him this whole time. He nodded to her and the two set off to the entrance of the object behind them. They may not have currently had the four vials to retrieve, but there was something else of great importance in the craft behind them.

  It was time to wake the five occupants who slumbered in the life pods.

  Chapter Ten

  1

  Spicewood, Texas

  City Limits

  “Nope,” Greg said as he dropped back into the bus from the roof. “The bullets didn’t go through the wall, and they aren’t having much effect on those creatures either.”

  After the wall had destroyed the bus and killed Hector, Greg had climbed onto what was left of the bus’s roof and shot at the wall. He’d wanted to see if the bullets would penetrate it.

  They hadn’t.

  The others scrambled around the bus and gathered boxes of ammo and bottled water. The five creatures slowly approached the bus.

  “They’re getting closer,” Kimberly warned.

  “Greg!” Riker shouted as he stuffed two more boxes of ammo into his backpack. “Did you see anyplace we could run to for cover?”

  “I didn’t see shit!” Greg yelled back.

  “Wait!” Teagan shouted. “I think we’re close to Schoepke Springs. When I was there with my ex, the entire property was surrounded by a wall. If we can make it there, maybe we’ll be safe.”

  “That’s a huge ‘maybe,’” Greg s
aid.

  “Well, it’s the only ‘maybe’ we’ve got,” Riker said. “How far away is this place?”

  “About two, three miles,” Teagan said.

  “Christ,” Noonan said. “It may as well be a hundred miles away.”

  “We’re moving now!” Riker shouted.

  The alien-creatures approached from the driver’s side of the bus. Riker and Teagan were the first to exit the destroyed vehicle and immediately ran to the front of the bus and shot at the creatures. The bullets tore into the aliens, but did little to slow them down.

  “Are you seeing this?” Teagan asked Riker. “Bullets at least slowed down those yellow-eyed bastards. We may as well be throwing tennis balls at them.”

  “Come on, everyone!” Riker shouted. “Get off the bus and into the trees over there!” Riker nodded toward a small strip of woods adjacent to the highway. He didn’t know how far back the woods extended, but at least it would provide them some cover. That was a lot more than they had now.

  Greg, Noonan, and Murphy ran out of the bus and made a beeline to the trees.

  “Do me a favor, Braden,” asked Kimberly as she turned to him. “Don’t let me out of your sight.”

  “Of course not,” Braden said. “I got your back.”

  “I don’t just mean right now as we run for the trees,” Kimberly continued. “I mean ever. Don’t let me out of your sight.”

  “Yeah, of course, Kimberly,” Braden said. “I won’t take my eyes off of you.”

  Braden and Kimberly ran from the bus and headed to the trees where the others waited. As they ran, the sound of Riker and Teagan’s guns echoed off the wall.

  Three of the creatures veered around the other side of the bus as they spotted the humans running toward the trees. The remaining alien-things started to run toward Riker and Teagan.

  “Try the legs!” Riker shouted to Teagan as he continued to shoot at the creature.

  Teagan aimed at the alien’s legs, but they didn’t offer much of a target. The legs were muscular, but thin, and they moved so quickly. Teagan squeezed off a round from her carbine and hit the creature in its kneecap. She watched as the creature stumbled and slowed down a little bit, but the smile faded from her face when she realized the creature still charged.

  “Good thing we’re not waiting to see the whites of their eyes before we shoot,” Riker said as he tried to ease the tension. He landed three quick shots into the thigh of the lead creature and it did nothing to slow it down.

  “The eyes,” Teagan said as she aimed away from the legs and to the head.

  “What?” Riker asked, not understanding what she said.

  “Aim for the eyes,” Teagan said. She then shot three quick bursts from her carbine. Two of the rounds caught the alien in the left eye and snapped its oval-shaped head back. The creature slowed to a jog and dropped to its knees. Teagan shot the creature in the other eye with two more bullets and the thing fell over.

  “The eyes!” Teagan yelled. “Shoot the fuckers in the eyes!”

  Riker didn’t question what Teagan said and quickly put three rounds in the lead alien’s right eye. The creature did the same thing as the one Teagan had taken down. The creature was on its knees about twenty feet away. Instead of finishing the alien off with a few more bullets, Riker ran over to it, machete raised high, and brought the blade down into the alien’s neck.

  The blade sank into the creature’s flesh and it reminded Riker of trying to cut through leather. The alien’s thick skin provided an almost blade-proof protection.

  But ‘almost’ was all Riker needed.

  He sawed the blade back and forth into the creature’s neck and felt it cut through what he thought was muscle and tendons. If the creature was as different on the inside as it was on the outside, then Riker doubted it was made of the same bone and muscle that made up humans beings.

  Teagan ran over to Riker just as he pulled the blade out of the creature. The same looking fluid that filled the cocoons oozed from the alien’s wound.

  “That settles that,” Riker said. “They can die. It just takes a lot more effort to kill them.” Riker wiped the blade on the nearby grass. “Nice job about the eyes. How’d you know?”

  “Just kind of came to me and I took a shot at it,” Teagan answered. “Since the first zombies appeared over two years ago, I always noticed how different their eyes looked. Then when they mutated, the only thing about them that seemed to change was the eyes.” Teagan shrugged. “I figured it might be some kind of weakness.”

  The creature Teagan had shot twitched on the ground and Teagan quickly drew her pistol and shot the thing three more times in the eyes.

  “Like you said,” she said as she holstered her Beretta, “it takes a lot more to kill them.”

  “Let’s get out of here and join the others,” Riker said. “I don’t wanna be around if these things come back to life.” He looked at Teagan’s face and added, “They won’t be too happy with us.”

  *

  “Come on, come on,” Greg mumbled out loud. “What the hell are those two waiting for?” he asked as he watched Riker and Teagan gun down the aliens.

  “Holy shit,” Braden said as he watched the alien drop to the ground. “They took them down. We just need to aim for the head.”

  “Fantastic,” Noonan said. “Do you know how hard a shot that is? Might as well be trying to shoot the balls off of a fly.”

  “I didn’t say it’d be easy!” Braden shot back at the man. “I just said that at least we know they can die.”

  “Well, pardon me if I don’t start celebrating,” Noonan said.

  “Everyone shut up,” Murphy said as he leaned against a tree. “Do you guys hear that?”

  Everyone remained absolutely still.

  “There it is again,” Murphy said. “What the hell is that noise?”

  “It sounds like rustling leaves,” said Kimberly, “but not from being stepped on.”

  Kimberly and Murphy both looked up at the trees above them and saw the branches shake. Before Murphy could say anything, one of the aliens dropped from the tree above and knocked Murphy down. The two other creatures emerged from the thicket of trees and raced toward them.

  The shotgun fell from Murphy’s hand when the alien slammed into him and almost knocked him out.

  “I don’t have a shot, Murphy!” Kimberly yelled as she tried to set up a shot.

  The creature picked Murphy up by the neck right under his throat and squeezed. Murphy turned a shade of blue Kimberly only though existed in cartoons and saw his eyes bulge. When the alien held Murphy at arm’s length, Kimberly shot it with her shotgun.

  The alien winced as the buckshot slammed into its chest, but it didn’t relax its grip on Murphy. The creature turned and looked at Kimberly and increased the pressure on Murphy’s throat. Before Kimberly could get off another round, the alien took its free hand and punched Murphy in the stomach. The creature’s razor-sharp claws sunk into the man’s belly. Once inside, it dug into Murphy’s abdomen and took ahold of the man’s lower intestines. It ripped its hand from Murphy’s belly still holding his insides.

  Kimberly screamed as she watched Murphy be disemboweled. She leveled the shotgun and fired another round into the creature. The creature turned to face Kimberly and threw Murphy’s intestines in her face. Kimberly gagged as Murphy’s still-warm guts slid down her face and left a trail of blood and shit. The alien tossed aside Murphy’s eviscerated body and ran toward Kimberly. It made it within five feet of her before it was stopped cold in its tracks. It staggered for a second while it regained its balance. It reached for Kimberly, but she didn’t give it a chance to counter attack. She fired the last round from the shotgun directly into the alien’s face. Its neck snapped backwards and the creature was knocked to the ground.

  Kimberly walked over and stood above the creature. She looked down at it and waited to see any sign of life from it. She kept her eye on the alien as she removed pieces of Murphy’s intestines from her face and ch
in and reloaded her weapon.

  *

  “Well, go on, killer,” Greg said to Noonan. “Hunting season is year round now. You can go crazy on this thing.”

  Noonan and the creature squared off. Their eyes were locked as they stared each other down. Noonan was a killer. He knew that and he’d never denied or justified it. He loved the feeling of killing someone—of being in the position of determining someone’s fate.

  But as he looked the creature standing before him, he’d never seen eyes so black and empty. Noonan looked into his eyes after every person he killed and saw his eyes get darker as more and more of his humanity was lost. But the alien in front of him scared him. As he looked into its eyes, he saw a complete void of humanity in them. He also saw something in those eyes that was more frightening.

  Those were the eyes of killing machine, of something that lived only to hunt and kill. It wouldn’t hear words of prayer, and it wouldn’t grant mercy. Noonan may have had the eyes of a killer, but this creature, these aliens, had the eyes of an executioner.

  Greg fired his weapon and shot the creature square in the chest. Any other living thing on Earth would’ve been killed instantly.

  Anything that was from Earth, that is.

  The creature was knocked back from the force of the shotgun blast, but didn’t go down. The alien sized up the men in front of it and made its move. In a flash, the creature moved like lightning and knocked Greg over and grabbed Noonan. Greg’s shotgun flew out of his hands and the air was knocked from his lungs as he hit the ground. He sat there for a second, stunned, and watched as the creature turned its attention to Noonan.

  The alien had Noonan pinned against a tree. The alien was so close to Noonan that he felt the alien’s breath on his throat and the saliva, or whatever it was, ooze down his neck. Noonan struggled against the alien-thing, but couldn’t get any leverage against it.

  The creature took a step back, pushed Noonan harder against the tree, and raised him up by his shoulders. Noonan knew the thing could’ve instantly killed him before he even hit the tree. Noonan knew the thing was playing with him. Just like Noonan used to bait and toy around with the people he killed. It was no fun to just kill someone. He had to let them know he was in control and that he controlled their fate.