Outbreak (Book 3): Endplay Page 23

  The alien was doing the same thing. This was to show the others how strong and invincible it and the other creatures were. But there was a price to pay for being intimidating, and the creature was about to find that out.

  Noonan reached behind him and felt the police baton still tucked inside his waistband. He grabbed it and swung it toward the alien’s head. Noonan’s arms were on fire as the creature dug its claws into his flesh, but Noonan knew in another second or two he’d be dead.

  The baton slammed into the side of the alien’s head. Noonan pulled his arm back as best as he could and swung again. The baton struck the same place on the creature’s head, but seemed to have little effect. Noonan felt as though he was beating on a piece of leather.

  The alien tightened his grip on Noonan and dug its claws deeper into the meat in his shoulders. Noonan held back a scream and was determined to not give the creature the satisfaction.

  Then Noonan remembered how Riker and Teagan had brought down the creatures that attacked them.

  He turned the baton around and jammed the narrower end into the alien’s eye. The wider eye socket made it easier to hit his target and the creature reacted exactly as Noonan wanted.

  The alien dropped Noonan and emitted a high-pitched screech as it grabbed for the baton shoved in its eye, raking its claws through his shoulders before pulling them out.

  As the alien’s head shot back, Noonan stepped forward and kicked the creature in the balls, or where the balls would be located on a human being.

  The kick only seemed to piss the alien off more, and it refocused its attention on Noonan.

  “Fuck!” Noonan yelled. “These things don’t have any balls!”

  The creature pulled the baton from its eye socket, and in one fluid motion, thrust it through Noonan’s mouth.

  Through Noonan’s closed mouth.

  Noonan felt all his teeth shatter as the alien shoved the hard wooden baton past his lips. His lips exploded as blood splattered everywhere. Pieces of his broken teeth and blood filled his mouth as the pain from exposed nerves and torn apart gums overtook him.

  The alien didn’t stop once the baton was in his mouth. It pulled the weapon out and looked Noonan straight in the eyes as it thrust the baton back in. The wood rubbed against his already-torn gums and scraped against the broken teeth. The baton slid through the blood and Noonan’s eyes went wide as he realized it wasn’t stopping. The baton made him gag as it reached the back of his throat. The alien, though, wasn’t trying to ram the weapon down his throat.

  With more force, the creature pushed the baton out of the back on Noonan’s neck. Noonan felt the upper part of his spinal cord snap as the wooden instrument found its exit. Noonan’s body shook as the creature twisted the baton and made the exit hole wider. It removed the baton from Noonan’s mouth and held the man up with its one hand. It dropped the baton, then made a fist with its alien claw and punched Noonan’s face. The deadly fist disappeared into the bloodied mouth and the alien pivoted around as if celebrating its kill.

  Greg, Braden, and Kimberly looked on in horror as they saw the alien’s fist protruding from the back of Noonan’s head. Noonan was dead now, but it was clear that the alien wasn’t finished yet.

  The creature twisted its hand and pivoted its body so its back was pressed against the front of Noonan’s dead body. With its fist still through Noonan’s face, it slung the dead man’s body over its shoulder. Noonan flipped over the alien and the top of his head broke away from the rest of his body.

  The creature stood there and looked at the other humans. It was covered in a mixture of Noonan’s blood and the clear, thick fluid that oozed from its skin. It stood there with the upper part of Noonan’s head in its hand. Noonan’s dead eyes looked at the others.

  Riker and Teagan joined up with the others just in time to see the alien as it held part of Noonan’s head.

  The message was clear.

  These things no longer killed for food or to pass along the virus.

  They killed because they liked it.

  *

  “Little help over here!” Braden screamed as the last alien faced off against him. The shotgun shook in Braden’s hands as he peered into the alien’s eyes. Any doubts Braden had about these things being alien were gone. As he looked into its black eyes, he knew what stood before him wasn’t human.

  Braden jumped as he heard a gunshot off from the side. “Shoot the goddamn thing!” Greg shouted. “What the fuck are you waiting for?” Greg ran toward him, smoke still coming out of the barrel of his gun.

  The alien became distracted with Greg’s shot. Before he knew what was happening, Braden heard a voice scream, “Get down!” and he immediately dove to the ground and wrapped his arms around his head.

  Gunshots erupted everywhere around Braden. He saw the alien dance as bullets slammed into its body from all directions. It took shotgun blasts in the chest while bullets from an AR-15 and Sig Sauer hit the creature in the head.

  The alien finally fell to the ground, the thick, clear fluid seeped from many tiny wounds.

  “Think it’s dead?” Kimberly asked.

  Riker walked over to the creature, and using the toe of his boot, turned it over onto its back. He unholstered his Beretta and shot the creature five times in the eyes.

  “Thanks, guys,” Braden said as he stood back up. “Sorry I froze like that.”

  “Don’t let it happen again!” Greg barked at him. “You freeze up and you put all our lives in danger.”

  “Where’s Murphy and Noonan?” Teagan asked as she looked around.

  “They didn’t make it,” Greg answered.

  “On a positive note,” Kimberly said, “at least we know we can kill them.”

  “Yeah,” Greg said, “as long as we have an unlimited supply of ammo.”

  Riker saw that Kimberly was about to say something back to Greg.

  “No, Greg is right,” Riker said. “It takes way too much ammo to kill just one of those things.” They all stared at the dead alien at their feet. “But at least we know they have a weakness. Shooting them in the eyes will kill them.”

  “Keep that in mind if you ever run out of ammo and have to face them one-on-one,” Teagan said. “Go for the eyes.”

  “One-on-one?” Braden repeated. “Fuck me.”

  “Okay, everyone,” Riker said as he scanned the trees around them. “We need to get back on the bus and gather up every last round of ammo we can find.” He looked at the alien at his feet. “We’re gonna need it.”

  “Then what the fuck are we going to do?” Greg asked. “We’re stuck in this shit-hole town with no transportation and there’s a goddamn wall of energy boxing us in. Not even you could have a next move in mind, Riker.”

  “I’ve been thinking about that,” Riker said. “I really don’t think this energy wall was put in place just to contain us.”

  “How do you mean?” Teagan asked as they all walked back toward the bus.

  “Think about it,” Riker continued. “Who the hell are we? We’re just a ragtag group of survivors traveling around in an AC/DC tour bus. We don’t pose any real threat to the aliens.”

  “Maybe they’re just rounding up all the remaining humans,” Kimberly said.

  “That’s a possibility,” Riker said. “But don’t you think if those bastards had the technology to create an impenetrable wall of energy that they could’ve simply killed us all on the bus with a laser blast or something?”

  “Good point,” Greg said. “So what do you think is going on?”

  “I don’t know for sure,” Riker answered, “but I think we were in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

  “Lucky us,” Braden added.

  They arrived at the front half of the bus and looked around for more ammo.

  “I think our next move is to get to Schoepke Springs,” Riker said as he found a box of shotgun shells. “Teagan said it isn’t too far away.”

  “Okay, let’s say we manage to make it to this spring,�
�� Greg said. “What then? We’ll just be stranded in a different place.”

  “The entire property is fenced in,” Teagan explained. “Hopefully, there won’t be too many of these alien-things over there. We’re due for a break.”

  “Breaks are for Union workers,” Greg said. “If we’re gonna survive, we need to expect the worst and prepare for it.”

  After they recovered all the ammo they could find on the bus, they gathered at the hood of the bus and went over their plan.

  “I think we’re only about two miles from the springs,” Teagan said. “Three miles max.”

  “And what do we do if we get there and find it is completely overrun with aliens?” Braden asked.

  “Then we fight our way inside,” Riker said.

  2

  Sub-Facility, Schoepke Springs

  “Forget about Rickard,” Wilder said. “We have bigger problems than worrying about where that snake went.”

  The control panel that monitored the security doors was lit up like the Fourth of July. The creatures had already broken through the second security door. There was only one more door separating them from the aliens.

  “How the hell are they breaking through those security doors so quickly?” asked Jennie. “Those things are like three feet thick and made of steel.”

  “Remember, Jennie,” Wilder said as he tried to refocus Jennie on the task at hand, “we’re not dealing with zombies anymore. The things on the other side of the door aren’t human any longer.”

  “Thanks for reminding me,” Jennie said.

  “Steele, Stefan, and Jennie!” Wilder barked. “You three prep the Wisent armored vehicles. Top them off with fuel, start them up, and leave them running. Don’t open the garage doors yet. I’m sure the creatures know about the doors.”

  The three ran off down the corridor toward the garage.

  “Josef,” Wilder said as he turned toward the man. “You and Howard set the charges to bring down this entire bunker.”

  Howard stopped in his tracks and turned to Josef. “What the hell is he talking about, Josef?”

  Josef looked between Wilder and Howard. He turned to Wilder and asked, “How did you know?”

  “Oh come on, Josef,” Wilder said. “You didn’t hide the charges very well. They’re all over this facility.”

  “This place is rigged to blow up?” Howard asked. “Why the hell didn’t you tell us?”

  “I didn’t think it was important,” Josef said.

  “The only thing that’s important now is to set the charges,” Wilder said. “Are they on a timer, or can we detonate whenever we want?”

  “Either,” Josef replied as he ignored Howard’s stare.

  “Set the C4 and let’s use the detonator,” Wilder said. “There’s a lot of factors at play here and I don’t wanna get fucked by the timer if we’re running behind schedule.”

  “Come on, Howard,” Josef said as he slapped the man on the back. “This is a two-man job.” Howard still looked at Josef incredulously. “Oh come on, Howard,” Josef repeated, “it’s not like I was going to blow us all up inside.” Josef walked over to a different control panel and started typing into the keyboards.

  “Cheryl,” Wilder said as he turned to her. “You and I are going to try and slow those bastards down. The last security door is the strongest, but they’re going to get through it. That doesn’t mean that we can’t surprise them and slow them down some, though.”

  “I can see by the look in your eyes that you already have something planned, don’t you?” Cheryl asked.

  “Absolutely,” Wilder said.

  *

  Rickard slipped away from the others as Josef explained the deal that’d been made between The Council of 36 and the aliens. Rickard knew he wasn’t anyone’s favorite person, and after that info, wouldn’t have been surprised if someone shot him.

  Rickard didn’t feel guilty or bad about the choices he’d made. He’d known that any one of them would’ve done made the exact same had they been in his position.

  The aliens weren’t talking about starting some small war. They were here to take over the world and exterminate the majority of life on the planet. The survivors would be used as food.

  The only choice before him and the others on The Council was to help the aliens and live, or fight them and die.

  Or become their food.

  Rickard ran down the private corridor that only he and Josef knew about. The corridor was off the garage and led to the warehouse where the rest of the scout ship was housed. As he got closer to the warehouse, he felt the vibrations though the stone.

  It seems the beast woke up, Rickard thought. The scout ship didn’t have any alien bodies on it and he assumed it had been activated by the mothership.

  Either that, thought Rickard, or the EMP blast woke it up.

  Rickard couldn’t help but laugh when he thought of the irony. Heinrich and Josef had dumped hundreds of millions of dollars into developing EMP bombs that were small and extremely effective. This, they thought, would be humanity’s defense against the aliens.

  But not only did the EMP blast have no effect on the zombie mutations--it’d also woken the scout ship and signaled to the mothership. Now she was here to finish what had been started over fifty years ago.

  Then those idiots had to steal those vials from the object and fuck everything up, Rickard thought. He knew the aliens would do anything to get them back. Deal or no deal, the aliens would kill every last human being alive to get those vials back.

  He knew exactly what was in those vials.

  Immunity.

  The contents of those vials would make the aliens immune to every pathogen on Earth.

  Rickard remembered the first time he’d met with the aliens. They’d been so frail and weak. The only thing that kept had them alive over the last few centuries was their technology. Their frail appearance made it easy for everyone to believe they meant no harm. They’d said they were stranded and wanted to make Earth their new home--that, in exchange for technology, they would be allowed to stay.

  That was when the Council of 36 had formed. Rickard and his cohorts hadn’t trusted the aliens. The military had acted like a bunch of infatuated teenage boys on their first date, accepting everything the visitors told them at face value, but The Council members had known the tech the aliens had shared was child’s play compared to what they’d been holding back. The Council had investigated and the truth had come out.

  Torturing an alien wasn’t covered by the Geneva Convention.

  The Council knew the true intentions of the visitors. They did indeed want to make Earth their new home. That much was true. They’d just left out the small detail of extinguishing all life on Earth as part of their plan.

  The vials the aliens had given to the military had been tiny little Pandora boxes, except there hadn’t been hope in the bottoms of them.

  Hell yeah he and the other Council members had made a deal with the aliens. They’d found out too late, though, that the deal would only be acknowledged if The Council members made it through the first few stages. The aliens had made it clear that they couldn’t protect any Council member or their family members against the initial release of the virus.

  Many Council members had died during the first few months. It hadn’t helped that the aliens hadn’t shared their timeline of when the invasion would begin.

  Rickard smiled as he thought about The Council members who hadn’t prepared. They’d thought time was on their side.

  They’d been wrong.

  After the deal with the aliens had been made, Rickard had immediately contacted Heinrich and Josef. He’d known they’d had the means to survive the initial outbreak. He’d told them a version of the story that left out some key details. They hadn’t needed to know everything.

  He removed a small rectangular device from his inner coat pocket and turned it on. The device had been given to him and the other Council members so they could keep in touch with each other after all
other communications went down.

  “This is Rickard,” he said into the device. “Come in Rockville, this is Rickard.” There was some static on the other end, and then a voice.

  “Rickard, you sonofabitch,” the voice said over the device. “We thought you were dead. Haven’t heard from you in a while.”

  “I don’t have long,” Rickard said, “but it is time you gather up and start heading to Schoepke Springs. The endgame is in motion.”

  “After all this time, it’s finally going to happen,” the voice said. “We owe you a big thanks, Rickard. If it wasn’t for you, we’d never be in the position we’re now in.”

  Rickard smiled at the man’s words. Those other Council members owed him their lives. They’d been ready to run to the military when they’d found out the visitor’s true intentions. Rickard had been the architect of the deal and his ego swelled at the recognition.

  “Don’t take too long getting here,” Rickard said. “I don’t think the aliens will alter their timeline for you.”

  “We’re leaving now,” the voice said.

  Rickard got to the warehouse door and punched the code into the keypad next to it. He stepped back as the door silently slid up. The small doorframe led into a cavernous room where the scout ship sat in the center. Rickard knew that, even though this was only a part of the craft, it was still capable of flight.

  What he didn’t expect was to see around fifty of the newly emerged aliens around the scout ship. They checked the craft as though they were doing a pre-flight check.

  The aliens turned to look at Rickard as he walked into the large room. The flight mechanism in his brain screamed for him to turn and run, but he had come too far to turn around now. This ship was his way off Earth and to his new protected life along with the other surviving Council members.