Zombie Attack! Army of the Dead (Book 3), Page 5

  “You said the village was just the first thing you were protecting,” I said, feeling my stomach kick into high gear at the mention of delicious snacks. It was no great secret that I'd been missing junk food since Z Day hit. I complained about not being able to hit up 7-11 for Doritos and Funyuns and Snickers bars pretty much all of the time when I was back in Freedom Town. It got so bad I'd even caught my men doing impersonations of me. I actually thought most of them were pretty funny.

  “That's right,” Apache said cryptically.

  “So what else are you protecting?” I pushed.

  “This,” he said, stopping at another platform and spreading his hands. Down below us grew a patch of wild plants with small green leaves and pinkish flowers. Each had several glossy-looking orange bulbs shaped like elongated ovals or little, stretched footballs.

  “What are they?” Felicity asked.

  “Iboga plants. These plants grow year-round in the rainforests of Africa. We've had no trouble recreating suitable conditions for them to thrive here as well. This swatch of land falls in what was once called the Fertile Crescent before Z Day. We can grow anything here in Xanadu.”

  “So those things that look like peppers, you chew them up like fruit? Is that it?” I asked.

  “No,” Apache explained. “Although by the looks of them you'd think that's exactly how it works. The real power comes from the roots of the Iboga plant, actually from the bark of the root, which is where the highest concentration of Ibogaine is held. Shamans used to chew on the root bark, then have powerful visions. It's also been used for its anesthetic qualities.”

  “What does that mean?” Sam asked.

  “It means it makes your skin numb on contact,” Apache patiently explained. “So people sometimes use it in small doses on painful injuries. There is a more recent use for the plant, as I am sure you are aware.”

  “It's the key ingredient to the antidote for the zombie virus,” I answered. “Without it they can't synthesize the cure.”

  “That is correct,” Apache said with a smile.

  “Why do you have so much of it growing here?”

  “This is really a small yield compared to what we'd eventually like to grow,” Apache explained. “In the future we hope to be able to provide enough to cure the whole State of California, or at least put those who are suffering out of their misery. I'm sure you've also realized by now that the cure won't work for everyone. Some people are just too far gone, their bodies physically incapable of regenerating or, in some cases, their minds broken beyond repair. For these poor souls the antidote simply seems to lay them to rest, as nature intended. These dead do not rise again, but remain at peace forever more. That's really what my life's work is about at this point, helping ease the suffering of living and undead beings.”

  “Where did you get it?” I asked.

  “We took it from some very dangerous people who were planning on using it for the wrong reasons,” Apache said. “Come inside and your brother and I will tell you more. We don't want to keep our guest waiting any longer than we have to. She's already upset as it is that we didn't let her join the rescue party, despite my explaining that we needed a strong warrior here to protect the camp in our absence.”

  Apache turned and walked into the nearest covered enclosure, ducking under the branch-covered hut at the center of a large knot of trees. Sam chased after him and we followed, eager to hear more.

  It's bigger inside this hut than I'd have guessed, I thought, but still not as big as a normal apartment.

  Looking around, I saw a small living space with a bed and kitchen. From behind Apache I could see the figure of a woman slinking around, looking bashful. Although her hair was now freshly oiled and braided, and her clothing was now both combat ready and form fitting, it was still easy to recognize her.

  Sonya, I thought, chills racing up my spine at the surprise of seeing her again.

  There was no mistaking the person who had lured us into the worst trap imaginable, and then abandoned us to a horrific fate at the hands of our enemies.

  “What the hell is she doing here?” I said, my voice gaining an octave out of frustration.

  Moto turned and followed my line of sight, locking eyes with the woman in an intense stare. Then he suddenly sprang forward, as if his feet rested on coils, moving quickly past Apache and making a beeline straight for Sonya, who stood unblinking and unafraid as he approached.

  He's going to kill her, I thought. She did save our lives. I'm not sure she deserves to die, but she definitely deserves to be punished for her crimes.

  Guilt pricked at my conscience and rose up in the form of a blush across my cheeks. Despite wanting nothing more than to see her get what she justly deserved, I knew letting my brother take out his anger on a person who had saved my skin just wasn't right.

  “Wait!” I called out, nearly unable to believe the words as they came out of my mouth. “Don't hurt her,” I begged.

  I turned to Felicity, expecting her to look as dumbfounded at hearing the words as I was at speaking them, but instead found her brows knitted in similar concern. She might have been less than suitable traveling company in many ways, owing mostly to her penchant for abandoning you without warning and leaving you to your enemies, but punishing her would be wrong and we both knew it.

  What happened next surprised me more than seeing Tank alive with my own eyes, after leaving him squirming in a pile of biting zombies. Moto reached Sonya, and took her by the shoulder. They stared into each other’s eyes for a hard moment, while Felicity and I trembled with anticipation. Then Moto leaned in and kissed her for a very long time.

  “So that's what you meant when you said you wanted us to be like sisters,” Felicity said, unable to hide the shock in her voice.

  “But John told us that she was working with him,” I protested. “He called her his lady. How do you explain that?”

  “No,” Felicity said. “He didn't. I asked him where she was, but I never specifically said Sonya. He must have been talking about someone else.”

  “So she was never working for him?”

  “She was sent to watch over you,” Apache explained. I was embarrassed because in my shock I had totally forgotten how close he was standing to us. He could hear every word we were saying.

  “You mean at Freedom Town?”

  “That's right,” Apache nodded. “There were some developments happening here at the time that left your brother and me worried about the safety of your family.”

  Moto and Sonya walked back to us holding hands. It was the happiest I think I've ever seen my big brother in my entire life. He just looked complete with her by his side, like two pieces of a puzzle that fit perfectly together.

  “What kind of developments?” Felicity asked. “I don't understand. I thought the base was safe.”

  “It was, until I found the secret lab by accident,” Sonya started.

  “I'd told her not to come to the base,” Moto said, sounding playfully cross. “But she never was one for listening or following rules.” He kissed her softly on the top of her head, and I saw the color rise up in her cheeks.

  “Take it easy guys,” Apache said, looking uncomfortable by their open display of public affection. “She's still my little sister, you know.”

  “Your sister?!”

  “It's the age difference that throws people off,” Apache laughed. “My old man was never around when I was growing up. When I got older I found out why. Turns out he had another family on the side. When Sonya found out the truth, she came and found me. We both knew exactly what it felt like to grow up as an only child, how lonely that can be, but what we didn't expect was how finding out we had a sibling out there would change us both.”

  “It was like finding out a part of your life had been missing all along,” Sonya added, “but you'd never realized it before. I spent as much time with him as I could after that, mostly in training. I'd been a fighter my whole life. Now I had someone to share that with, someone who encour
aged me to channel my aggression in a healthy way instead of trying to crush it out of me.”

  “I taught her everything she knows,” Apache bragged, swelling up with pride. “Although, in all fairness, the desire to question authority and think for ourselves seems to be more of a genetic thing than a learned quality.”

  “So she's your girlfriend, right?” I asked as I turned to Moto. I felt stupid for asking again, but the shock of this new revelation was still just a little too much for me.

  “That's right, Xander,” Sonya said, cutting in. “Yosha and I met the day you were bitten. In a lot of ways you could say that's where this all began. You see, I didn't know that there was a cure for this thing until that day, and even after it was all over, I still had trouble believing you'd actually been infected.”

  She's using his original first name, I noticed. She's not calling him Moto or Patrick, like the rest of us. She must be his girlfriend! Otherwise he'd never allow it. I thought he hated that name.

  “She kept the radio I'd left for Apache,” Moto said. “She started contacting me regularly, asking all sorts of questions I couldn't answer.

  “You left that radio behind on purpose,” Sonya chastised him. “Admit it.”

  “I'll admit that I was a little distracted that day we met,” Moto said defensively. “My brother, who I'd been searching for, turned up bitten by a zom, so yeah, I wasn't thinking a hundred percent clearly at the time. I felt guilty about it. I still do.”

  “You do?” I asked. Moto nodded affirmatively. I couldn't understand why. When he left me at Vandenberg there was no way he could have known what was coming, that the zombies would form into hordes and start knocking down walls. How could he or anyone else have known that? I certainly didn't blame him, but I could see from the look on his face that no amount of telling him otherwise was likely to convince him at this point.

  “Well, I'll never forget the first time I saw you,” Sonya swooned. “You were all dressed up in your fatigues. You looked so handsome. To me you represented everything I distrusted in the world, force and might and violence, and yet I was inexplicably drawn to you.”

  “I remember staring into your eyes a little longer than I should have,” Moto finally admitted. Sonya seemed to be visibly set at ease by his confession of love at first sight. He leaned over and kissed her again, seemingly forgetting that we were even there. Apache cleared his throat and they pulled back, looking almost surprised to still find us there.

  “So you began to visit him on the base?” I asked, rubbing the back of my neck and looking down at the floor. I was feeling a little nauseated by their public display of affection as well, not that I didn't understand it. I'd just never seen my brother act like this over a girl before.

  “That wasn't possible,” Sonya answered.

  “As you know, it's a restricted area,” Moto explained further. “There was no way she could meet me there without causing a huge commotion. Besides, she'd still have to go through inspection and decontamination to get proper clearance.”

  “Why? I thought you were in charge,” Felicity said. “After General Conrad passed away I thought you became the top of the command chain.”

  “Pulling rank wasn't really an option,” Moto explained. “Besides, I didn't want my men to see me as the kind of person who thinks the rules don't apply to him. It sets a terrible example and is bad for morale. That's why I had to go to her. There was just no other way we could see each other without drawing a lot of attention to ourselves, and I didn't want that either. Whatever was happening between us was special, and I wasn't ready to expose it to the court of public opinion. I made up all sorts of excuses about scouting expeditions and supply raids, just to see her for a few moments at a time.”

  “I don't understand,” I said, shaking my head. “As ranking officer you'd need a security detail to escort you on and off the base. How'd you manage to ditch them?”

  “I didn't,” Moto began to clarify. “Instead, I handpicked my personal team from the small group of people I knew I could actually trust. We'd approach from the north side, and then I'd backtrack through the forest. Usually, Sonya met me near a cluster of oak trees about a mile from the entrance to Xanadu.”

  “I hated waiting,” she admitted. “Plus I loved the look on his face when I managed to surprise him. He'd get so huffy about not being seen together. It was kinda adorable.”

  “Yeah,” I said, rolling my eyes. “Sounds like my big brother all right. He's one big adorable teddy bear.”

  “As I was saying,” Moto continued, his ears turning slightly scarlet with embarrassment, “we generally didn't get much time together, but there's only so long you can go without seeing the person who makes your day worth getting up for in the morning.”

  “We used to sit up at night and talk for hours,” Sonya said with a sigh.

  “We'd talk until the radios went dead,” Moto laughed. “I always wondered how she was going to recharge hers and whether or not she'd be back the next night, but she always was. You never did tell me how you kept the radio recharged those first few months.”

  “I have my ways,” Sonya smiled coyly.

  “Anyway,” Moto said, finally registering the impatient look on our faces. “Things just escalated from there.”

  “I wasn't supposed to go onto the base,” Sonya explained, “but I did. It was a chance to practice my stealth skills. I made a game out of it. It was easier than I expected.”

  “I'd be sitting in bed waiting for her to come on the radio, and instead she'd pop up at my door,” Moto explained. “We got a little too comfortable though, and we almost got caught a couple of times. After that, I told her she needed to knock it off.”

  “But I didn't listen,” Sonya jumped in. “I came back again the next night, but I didn't make it to Yosha's room. Instead, I tracked a suspicious-looking group of civilians escorting a female zombie across the base to a big white building in the middle of the grounds.”

  “You mean the lab?” I asked, recalling my short stay there after being treated with Ibogaine myself.

  “I didn't know what it was at the time,” she admitted, “but yes. They took her downstairs and put her in a holding cell, like a prison. I managed to duck out of sight just as they came back and walked upstairs again.”

  “Weren't you worried about being seen?” Sam innocently asked.

  “That's what was so weird about the whole thing,” Sonya explained. “These guys didn't seem to care who was watching. They acted like they were a law unto themselves, beholden to no one else. They even had their own little uniforms, black cargo pants with matching black shirts.”

  “Can we skip the fashion details and get back to the story?” Felicity asked, impatient to the core. Sonya flashed an angry look that melted Felicity's icy demeanor once more. “Sorry. I don't mean to be rude; I'm just eager to see how all the pieces of the puzzle fit together.”

  “When I was sure they were gone, I crept into the hallways,” Sonya continued. “There were cells down there, like a prison. And they were full, every last one of them, with rotting zombies. But these creatures weren't like the ones you see on the outside. All except the woman they'd just brought in had been experimented on in some way, as far as I could see.”

  “What do you mean experimented on?” I asked.

  “Just what it sounds like,” she said plainly. “They were missing pieces of their skull and had wires sticking out of their exposed brains. Some of them had electrodes on them. Some had burn marks on their upper torsos. This wasn't just your average, sick torture going on. This was beyond full-fledged research. This was vivisection!”

  “Who would do something like that?” Felicity asked. I turned from Sonya to Moto and waited for an answer.

  “Franco,” Moto replied.

  “Who the hell is Franco?” It was my turn to question him.

  “Do you remember the strange guy who came on base a few weeks before General Conrad died? He was a walk-on, but he checked out. Short brown
hair and dark eyes? Black bomber jacket?”

  “You mean the one who looked sorta like a civilian contractor?” I asked. “I remembered thinking it was odd to see a guy in blue jeans and a white t-shirt walking around with the General. I thought maybe he was a former Air Force guy or something, because of the jacket.”

  “Right,” Moto replied. “That's him.”

  My mind flashed back, remembering the odd feeling I'd had in the pit of my stomach watching a guy in street clothes being saluted by a superior officer. At the time, I'd written it off as just another oddity of our newly formed Unified Armed Forces Alliance. We had former Marine Sharpshooters bunking with Army Rangers and Navy SEALS, all now part of the general rank and file of the UAFA. Port Hueneme was originally a Naval Base, home of the SEABEES, but for the time being, the old divisions no longer applied. It could be frustrating too, since each branch of the military put emphasis on different combat techniques and skill sets. To top it off, the base had seen a surge of new recruits since the day General Conrad blew the trenches around the core of the base. Many had simply walked up to the gates begging for asylum, then volunteered after being told the base was off limits to ordinary civilians. Not only was it the fastest way to get a hot meal, a fresh shower, and a safe bed to sleep in, it also meant they would be given a weapon and trained in self-defense. Turns out the zombie apocalypse was the best recruiting tool in the history of the armed forces.

  The only problem was that many of the enlisted men turned their noses up at the wave of new Joes flooding in. They'd devoted their whole lives in the service of their country, and didn't like being lumped in with guys who'd only signed up to save their own hides after all hell had already broken loose. As far as they were concerned, these were guys who didn't know the meaning of the words country, service, or sacrifice. Not only did they look down their noses at them, making up nicknames for them like Fobbit or Plant Eaters or worse still, Obaffz (One Bite Away From Full Zom), they also didn't trust them. Basically, there were still a lot of kinks to be worked out.