Outbreak (Book 3): Endplay Read online

  “My point is that maybe Butsko knew more that he told you about what was actually here at Schoepke Springs,” Rickard said. “Maybe he knew that the object above us was here and that it was worth dying for. Maybe.”

  Wilder’s world began to spin. He hated to admit it, but Rickard could be right. Risking all those lives on so many assumptions wasn’t how Butsko operated. Butsko always had the safety of his soldiers and friends as his top priority. Right?

  Butsko may have kept secrets, Wilder thought, but he was nothing like Rickard.

  Right?

  Wilder didn’t know what to think, but his mind couldn’t help but reason that Rickard was correct. That Butsko had known about the strange object that was housed at Schoepke Springs. That Butsko had kept that secret from him.

  “Wait a minute,” Wilder almost shouted. “Let’s assume that Butsko did know about the alien object in the lab above us. He obviously thought the risk of finding it outweighed everything else, right?”

  “What are you getting at, Wilder?” asked Cheryl.

  “If the object above is was worth dying for,” Wilder concluded, “then there must be something pretty damn special about it. Maybe that thing holds a secret to fighting these bastards and stopping the coming mass extinction.”

  “Okay,” Rickard said. “What if it does?”

  “Then we need to get up there to it,” Wilder said.

  3

  Twenty Miles Outside Huntsville, Texas

  Sam Houston Trailer Park

  Riker, Murphy, and the others felt the ground shake and heard the explosion not far from them.

  “Was that Greg and the others?” Murphy asked.

  “It sounds like Greg’s handy work,” Riker said.

  The explosion ended the eerie silence and made the zombies more active. The yellow-eyed creatures started to shake the trailers again. Teagan kneeled down and fired at the legs and knees of the infected on the other side of the trailers.

  Some of the zombies fell from the bullets as they ripped through muscle and bone, but Teagan knew she didn’t have enough ammo to take down all the zombies.

  “Get ready to fight!” Riker shouted.

  Everyone gripped their weapons tightly as the trailers rocked more violently and watched as one of them tipped over. Everything seemed to be in slow motion as the trailer fell over and trapped Gary and Reilly.

  Gary ran toward Kimberly and Emily, dropped the garden trowel in his hand, and pushed the girls out of the way of the falling trailer. In saving the girls, though, Gary’s legs became trapped underneath the trailer.

  Reilly wasn’t as lucky. As the trailer fell over, Reilly pushed Toxic out of the way. Toxic was frozen in place as he watched the trailer topple over and if not for Reilly, he would’ve been killed instantly. When she pushed Toxic out of the way, he pumped his arms to give himself some momentum, and the thick chains he carried hit her in the head.

  Toxic watched as the woman who saved him lay unconscious on her stomach as the trailer crashed on top of her. The trailer landed on Reilly right below her shoulder blades, and crushed her hips and leg bones.

  *****

  Everyone scattered as the zombies flooded the common area. Riker, Hector, Teagan, and Paula ran toward the explosion they heard earlier. The fires still blazed and kept the infected away.

  Frye ran towards the far end of the trailer park, thinking the majority of the zombies were in the common area. He knew he’d come into contact with a few of the infected, but he hoped there’d be only a few scattered this far away from the action. Jackson and Murphy saw Frye and ran after him. Jackson followed simply because Frye was the first person he saw, while Murphy chased after him because he wanted to be around someone who had a gun.

  Brian, Stewart, Emily, and Kim ran to the one thing that had protected them all this time: The AC/DC tour bus. The bus was inside the trailer park and they hoped the main door was unlocked.

  Braden hesitated as he watched the trailer fall on top of Reilly and wanted to help her. He shouted out her name a few times, but when he got no response, he figured she was dead. He knew he should have checked to make sure, but chaos had erupted all around him and he’d panicked to find cover.

  As the zombies filled the common area, Braden didn’t follow any of the groups of people who scattered. He frantically looked around and realized the only choice he had was the trailer to his immediate left.

  Braden held the post digger close to his body and ran toward the trailer. He looked over and saw Toxic as he stood over Reilly’s body. The infected ran between Braden and Toxic and he lost sight of the man. As he ran to the trailer, two zombies stepped in his way. Braden raised the post digger and smacked the closest yellow-eyed creature under the chin. The creature’s neck snapped back and it dropped to the ground. Braden held the weapon under his arm, with the blades sticking out, and charged the second zombie.

  The post digger’s blades sank into the chest of the zombie, and with his momentum, Braden pushed the creature to the ground. He stood over the still-moving monster and pushed down hard on the digger. He felt the tool’s blades sink deeper. With all his strength, Braden pulled the wooden handles apart and watched as the blades ripped through the zombie’s chest. Braden heard the ribs crack as the post digger tore through bone and meat. He pulled the digger up and ripped apart most of the zombie’s upper body.

  The first zombie he’d knocked to the ground had started to stand back up. Braden ran over to it and thrust the digger into the creature’s upper back. He heard a loud snap as the thing’s spinal cord was severed.

  It might not be dead, Braden thought, but at least it won’t get back up.

  Braden’s victory was short-lived as more creatures ran toward him. Braden turned and continued to the trailer. He lowered his shoulder and crashed through the door and shook the entire trailer. He slammed the door shut and looked for something to secure the door. Inside the trailer were three stoves and a lot of various cooking instruments. Braden assumed Riker and the others had used this trailer as the kitchen. He opened the cabinet above him and found a ball of butcher’s twine and wrapped it around the handle of the front door and tied the other end to the wall. It secured the door for now, but Braden knew it wasn’t a long-term solution.

  Braden walked through the tight space and looked for anything he could use as a weapon.

  Just as he started opening the cabinets, Braden heard the infected slam against the front door. He peered through the tiny window and watched as five zombies tried to break the door down.

  *****

  Murphy and Jackson ran after Frye, but lost track of him after Frye ran toward the trees at the far end of the trailer park.

  “Where the fuck did he go?” Jackson asked loudly.

  “Keep your voice down,” Murphy hissed at Jackson. Murphy held the barbwire-covered stick at the ready as he slowly walked among the trees.

  “Really, Jackson?” the man asked out loud to himself. “A broomstick? Couldn’t you find a damp rag or a toothpick to protect yourself with?”

  “Damnit, Jackson,” said Murphy as he raised his voice. “Would you please shut up? Those things are all around us and you’re letting every single one of them know exactly where we are.”

  “Wanna trade sticks?” Jackson asked as he ignored Murphy’s pleas.

  Before Murphy could say anything, a figure appeared from behind a tree and grabbed Jackson. One arm wrapped around Jackson’s torso while the other covered his mouth.

  “Holy shit, Jackson,” Frye whispered. “They can hear you all the way in Houston, for fuck’s sake.”

  “Am I glad to see you,” Murphy said as he lowered his weapon. “I lost track of you and thought the worst.”

  “There’s not much cover out here,” Frye said, “but we can use the trees.”

  The three men looked around and didn’t see any of the creatures in the trees.

  “I was just back by the fence,” Frye said. “I wanted to see how many of those fuckers were
waiting for us outside the trailer park.”

  “Well?” Murphy asked.

  “Zero,” Frye answered. “There are no zombies outside the trailer park.”

  “I don’t know if that’s good or bad,” Murphy said.

  “I think we should get back to the others,” Jackson said as his eyes probed the trees for movement. “Isn’t there safety in numbers?”

  Gunshots and screams could be heard in the distance.

  “Yeah,” said Frye. “I think we should head back too. We stay together, we watch each other’s backs, and we stay quiet.” Frye looked at Jackson.

  The three formed a tight “V” shape, with Frye on the point. They walked slowly through the trees, scrutinized every bush, and listened for anything that sounded like footprints.

  Frye held his bayonetted M4 at the ready. He only had two magazines and knew they wouldn’t last long. Every shot had to count.

  “I think I just saw something,” Jackson almost yelled.

  “Where?” Frye asked.

  “There… there it is again,” Jackson said louder. “I think it’s one of us--a human.”

  Before Frye or Murphy could say anything, Jackson ran off into the trees.

  “Are you kidding me?” Murphy asked.

  “That’s what years of smoking meth does to your brain,” Frye said as they men slowly ran after Jackson.

  “Noonan!” Jackson called. “Noonan, is that you? Reece? Hector? Who’s out here? It’s me, Jackson.”

  Jackson ran past a group of trees and stopped dead in his tracks. A zombie, huddled on the ground, was crouched over something. When the creature heard Jackson, it twisted its head around and stared at the man with its yellow eyes.

  “What the fuck are you?” Jackson asked, not expecting an answer. Jackson looked down and saw that the creature was ripping apart someone. The body was more like a pile of torn flesh, meat, and blood as the creature’s fingers penetrated the body in front of it and pulled pieces of it apart.

  The yellowed-eyed creature looked up at Jackson and slowly brought a bloodied hand to its mouth. A wet tongue slithered from its lips as it licked its bloodied fingers. Jackson stared in horror as he watched the thing in front of him feed on the once-human pile. Jackson could’ve sworn the creature had a forked tongue as he watched the blood drip down the zombie’s chin.

  Jackson didn’t know whether to shit or go blind, and he never got the chance to choose as the creature with the yellow eyes jumped from the ground toward him. Fear seized the call for help in his throat as he turned and ran. He looked for Murphy and Frye, but only saw the denseness of the trees in front of him.

  As Jackson ran, he looked over his shoulder to see where the monster was and saw only darkness. He ran faster as he held the broomstick horizontally in his hands. He ran in the direction he thought would take him back to the trailers, but he was turned around and he couldn’t think straight. There seemed to be a million sounds coming from the trees and bushes. He knew he should watch out where he ran, but his paranoia got the better of him and he again looked over his shoulder to see if the creature was behind him.

  And he didn’t see the trees in front of him.

  The broomstick wedged itself between two close-by trees, and Jackson flipped over the stick and landed on his back. The broomstick broke into two pieces and lay out of his reach. He frantically looked around in the darkness and saw nothing. He took a quick inventory to make sure he wasn’t injured. As he stood, he looked up in the trees and saw a yellow-eyed creature falling toward him. The creature was faster than his scream and the only noise to escape Jackson’s lips was a high-pitched squeal as the creature ripped out his Adam’s apple.

  The zombie stood over Jackson and watched the man die as the blood squirted from the hole in his throat. The creature loved to hunt. They all loved to hunt. The “lower” types of zombies weren’t fun anymore. They could sense when the yellow-eyed creatures were around and disappeared before they had they chance to hunt them down. The humans, though, fought back. They either ran away or confronted the yellow-eyed creatures head on.

  Humans were fun.

  This creature liked the way the human body came apart, and when it needed to feed, humans tasted better than the lower-zombies.

  This creature, though, wasn’t looking for a meal.

  It was looking for prey.

  The creature raised its head and sniffed the air. It knew there were two other humans in the area. The zombie looked down at the dead human and wished it had more time to play. Instead, it ran off into the darkness to hunt down the other two humans.

  4

  Sub-Level Facility, Schoepke Springs

  Spicewood, Texas

  “There he goes again,” Rickard said as he walked away from Wilder. “Once again, he wants to leave the bunker.”

  Rickard didn’t like Wilder. He knew the man would endanger everyone in the bunker at the slightest chance of saving a few lives out in the world. Wilder was a righteous man who saw both the world and morality in black and white terms and always acted to help others. Rickard rarely met men like Wilder in his line of work. Seldom do battle-hardened career soldiers hold onto such idealism. Wilder, though, was unique. He wasn’t only idealistic--he was also optimistic that he could be a force to change things for the better.

  Rickard, though, knew the world was more complex than that. Most of the world was a shade of grey, which required strong men like himself to make difficult decisions. His decisions sometimes saved people, and other times cost people their lives. On rare occasions, Rickard’s decisions brought down governments and destroyed nations.

  The decisions about the virus were made years ago, decades ago. The choices made hadn’t been Rickard’s alone. The Council had decided that the future of the human race was worth gambling over for the chance to gain unlimited knowledge. The Council was always focused on knowledge. It was what kept them in power. It was why every government on Earth feared them. The technology of the aliens was so far beyond anything found on Earth that The Council had taken the risk. They wanted to control the source of the virus and harness the technology. Besides--they reasoned the virus was inactive and harmless when they’d first salvaged part of that alien craft from the ocean’s floor.

  They’d thought they had a handle on things. The Council had never thought that the virus would become active. The Council had gambled with Earth’s future and they’d lost. After studying the virus for thirty-odd years, Rickard knew it was unstoppable. Nothing in the arsenal of the CDC or any black ops laboratory could stop what’d been unleashed.

  But what if Wilder was right? What if the only thing that could stop the virus could be found in the object in the labs above them?

  I’ve been hanging around Wilder too long, Rickard thought. I’m starting to believe there’s a chance we could actually defeat these things.

  “No, Rickard,” Wilder calmly said. “The best thing about my plan is that we never have to leave your precious bunker.”

  “What are you proposing we do?” Josef asked hesitantly.

  “We’re going to the level above us to examine that damned object,” Wilder said. “I’m assuming that the object is a smaller piece of a larger alien craft?” he asked Josef.

  Josef said nothing, but did lower his eyes and nod.

  “How could you all sit down here all this time knowing that a piece of the craft that brought the virus to this planet was sitting right above you?” Wilder asked. “How could you live with yourselves knowing that millions of people were dying and the key to stopping the virus might be right above you?”

  The scientists all stared at the ground.

  “Fuck these cowards,” Steele said as he stepped forward and broke the silence of shame in the room. “Let’s get to that damn object and find a way to fight the infection.”

  “I’m with you too, Wilder,” Cheryl said as she held Stevie. Cheryl knew that Walt wouldn’t have hesitated to side with Wilder. “What’s your plan?”

&n
bsp; “I need everyone’s help,” Wilder said as he addressed the entire group. “Let’s forget about past sins and focus on making things right.” He looked around and saw most of the scientists shake their heads in agreement with him.

  “We can’t just sit down here, roll over, and let the human race fade away,” Wilder said. “It is time for us to fight back, and the clock is ticking. Here’s how we’re gonna get to that object.”

  5

  Underneath Schoepke Springs

  Spicewood, Texas

  Butsko felt something change among the infected. It was a subtle change, but a change nonetheless. Hundreds of the yellow-eyed creatures surrounded The Discovery like tourists around some kind of sacred object, but the purpose the creatures previously felt seemed to have dimmed. They knew they needed to be with The Discovery, but why? Why did it draw them?

  Butsko was also worried about Fi. He knew she was to lead the yellow-eyed race to the final victory and help usher in The Convergence, and Butsko would be right there by her side. But as of late, Fi was seldom seen. She kept to herself in one of the adjacent labs. Butsko, though, knew something big was coming. He felt the energy throughout The Consciousness and knew something was coming. He also knew that whatever was coming, Fi was at the center of it.

  There were times when he stood next to The Discovery that he swore he felt it buzz alive with energy. He’d known about the object for a long time. It had started off as whispers and rumors in the hallways of power—the government had proof of extraterrestrial life and kept it to themselves. At first, Butsko hadn’t believed the whispers, but as he quietly explored the darker corners of the intelligence community, he’d realized the rumors were true. Back in the late-1950s, part of an alien craft had been recovered from the bottom of the ocean.

  Butsko walked past The Discovery and again felt the buzz as energy emanated from it. Butsko slowly reached out, pressed his hand against the object, and felt a surge of energy run through his hand as the warmth filled his body.